While the Penguins didn't feel great heading into their bye week/All-Star break following a tough loss to San Jose, the silver lining is that they are more determined than ever to come out of it ready to battle for every point they can get.
"We've got to be better," Sidney Crosby said. "We've got to find a way to solve it. It's going to be a big stretch run when we get back."
Penguins Know They Have to be Better Coming Out of the Break
The Penguins are in a dogfight when it comes to the postseason picture. Following Saturday night's games, Pittsburgh was in the second Wild Card spot - one point behind Washington with two games in hand; and one point ahead of Buffalo.
The Sabres play Carolina on Feb. 1 before they start their break. For 2022-23, all bye weeks are scheduled between Jan. 28-Feb. 10, which overlaps with a pause from Feb. 2-5 for the All-Star festivities in Florida, which Crosby will be attending.
"We want to play in playoffs, and it's a tough run," Evgeni Malkin said. "Every team plays hard. We need to show our best."
Fending off hungry teams like Buffalo adds even more of a challenge to playing in the super competitive Metro Division, with the Hurricanes, Devils and Rangers currently holding the top-three spots.
"When you're in that division, I think you're watching every day," Kris Letang said. "One day you're in the playoffs, and the other day you're not. So, it's a strong division. We have to make sure that we have a strong end of the season."
Up to this point, Pittsburgh's season has been a volatile one. They started it on a five-game point streak; which turned into a seven-game winless streak. The Penguins proceeded to go on an incredible run, picking up points in 16 of 18, before going through another tough stretch (3-5-2). Since then, they've essentially alternated wins and losses.
Obviously, injuries play a part in all of this, with several key players - including Letang and fellow top-four defenseman Jeff Petry - missing time. Shortly after returning from a lower-body injury, No. 1 goaltender Tristan Jarry was ruled out until after the break with a lower-body injury, which is the most notable absence at the moment.
Apart from that, for Crosby, it feels like the reasons for the Penguins' struggles have been about as variable as the results themselves.
"I think it's different. Some nights, I think maybe we're forcing things. Other nights, we make a mental mistake," the captain said. "It's not consistently the same thing, but all those add up and end up in the back of our net. So, we've got to solve it."
Mike Sullivan said for him, it all comes down to the Penguins
being harder to play against
, and the leadership group shared similar sentiments … especially after giving up six goals in two of their last three games. They got away with that on Tuesday vs. Florida, getting a 7-6 overtime win, but not against the Sharks, who topped Pittsburgh 6-4.
"We can score, we just need to play a little bit better in D-zone," Malkin said.
"Obviously as the season gets to the last stretch, and then the playoffs, teams are really good defensively," Letang said. "They don't give you much. So you cannot win just by scoring goals. You have to be able to defend and play a strong system, so we have to clean it up."
Something else the leadership group agreed on, is that these days off arereally going to benefit the team - especially after needing extra time in five of their last seven games (overall, the Penguins have struggled in overtime/shootouts, with a 5-10 in those situations so far this year).
After quality time with family and friends away from the rink to relax and regroup, the Penguins will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 7, when they host the Colorado Avalanche - hopefully, hungrier than ever.
"Just like a little bit of rest, come back in better mood, more fresh… have a couple practices, and play better games," Malkin said. "We have great guys here. We want to play in playoffs, for sure. We need to play hard every game."
