Sully Says: We Played Smart, Which Gives Guys a Chance to Act on Our Talent

At the start of training camp, the gregarious Erik Karlsson said how much he was looking forward to having fun here in Pittsburgh, because “that’s what it’s all about. Hopefully, the wins come from that.”

That’s what happened on Friday night in Washington, where the Penguins earned their first victory of the 2023.24 season, defeating the Capitals 4-0. It just felt like you could see this group coming together on the ice, and having a blast while doing so – whether it was Evgeni Malkin playfully chest bumping Sidney Crosby perhaps a little too hard during a goal celebration, or Erik Karlsson leaning in and listening to Letang’s ESPN bench interview with a big smile on his face.

The ageless Two-Headed Monster turned in a pair of excellent performances, with Malkin opening the scoring before picking up three primary assists, and Crosby tallying twice on the power play. Reilly Smith got his first as a Penguin, while Tristan Jarry made 19 saves to earn the shutout.

“After losing the first one (on Tuesday versus Chicago), we just wanted to get two points regardless of who we were playing,” Crosby said. “We know with these (rivalry) games, they're intense. But I think with it being their first and our second, both teams were just trying to get to their game. Our special teams were big tonight. Got a couple power-play goals there… the penalty kill was awesome… and Jars made some huge saves to keep our cushion. So, it was a pretty solid game.”

Even though the shot clock was relatively even in the first period, the Penguins didn’t create as much as they would have liked. Fortunately, that all changed in the second, starting with terrific consecutive shifts from Pittsburgh’s bottom-six.

The Eller line put together a lengthy offensive-zone shift, followed by a good showing from the fourth line. That established momentum and set the stage for the top six to come out and keep pressing, with Malkin getting his first of the year. Shortly after that, Jake Guentzel drew a penalty and the captain converted on the power play. That goal came during 5-on-4, while Crosby’s second came during 4-on-3. They went 2-for-3 on the night, while Pittsburgh’s penalty kill went 3-for-3.

It ended up being a highly entertaining middle frame, with the Penguins mostly in control. Though the Capitals did have their moments, Jarry was ready when called upon, turning aside one of the greatest goal scorers of all time after Alex Ovechkin got a breakaway.

Kris Letang had lamented how the Penguins sat back on their heels after grabbing a lead against the Blackhawks, and they learned from their mistakes tonight, particularly in the final frame. Head Coach Mike Sullivan discusses that third period and more.

The third period seemed kind of low event, which was obviously a good thing. What did you do differently or well? “I just thought we played smart. We took what the game gave us. With a lead like that, it's important that you don't give our opponents any opportunity to get back in the game, force them to have to play 200 feet. We still want to continue to try to score, we just need to do it the right way. Our calculation of risk has to change, we've got to be willing to put pucks in deep, and we stay out of the penalty box. I think that's an important element of it. I think we took one penalty in the third, which I think was Lars Eller’s there on the wall. But other than that, I think that that was it. I think that's an important aspect, is making sure we stay out of the box, and we play 5-on-5 so we don't give their power play an opportunity to get them back in the game. I thought that the killers did a terrific job on that one they had to kill... Overall, we had a little bit more structure in the defensive zone, just our play without the puck was a little bit more conscientious certainly than it was in Game 1, and I think that gives our guys an opportunity to act on the talent that we have. So, we played hard tonight, but we also played smart.”

What can you say about Geno’s game, not just the points, but that backcheck in the third? “I thought Geno was on his game tonight. When he's on his game, it seems like the puck follows him around, and he played with a lot of energy. He's still such a dominant player out there. I thought tonight, he was at his best. He sees the ice so well, that play he made on Reilly’s goal at the end, just an unbelievable pass. It started with a track, just tracking the puck from behind. He was playing both ends of the rink. He's competing hard. I just think when he's on his game, he's as dominant the player as there is in the league. You saw that at 5-on-5, you saw his impact on the power play. I thought Sid had a great game as well. When those guys are on their game, they're elite.”

And they’re still doing it after 18 years together, those two guys. “They are. They're elite. They're just really good players, they have an incredible appetite to win, and they're willing to put the work in. They're really fit guys, they trained extremely hard in the offseason and during the season, they work on all the subtleties of their game every day. I don't think it's by accident they've been able to sustain the level of play that they're able to sustain. They just control everything within their power to set themselves up for success. We get the privilege to watch it every day, but when they're at their best, I think they're still elite players. I thought tonight was a great example of it.”

The stars put up big numbers and they made big plays. But it seemed like the fourth line helped tilt the whole game with that one shift. “I think they’re just quietly carving their own identity out as to how they're going to help this team and the contributions to help us win. So, those guys are fierce competitors, they're willing to block shots, I think all three of those guys bring something different to the table. They're a big part of the penalty kill. We can rely on Noel and Carts in the faceoff circle. Niets brings a lot of speed to that line. They had a couple of shifts early in the game where they got hemmed in our end, but they did a great job just protecting the inside of the ice and keeping the play to the perimeter, and that's the type of thing that I think settles teams down. When you have a comfort level that you can play in your own hand and nothing bad's going to happen, that's a good feeling when you're on the bench, and I think those guys bring that to our group.”

You talked about wanting to see movement from the power play during camp. I’m guessing you liked seeing that tonight? “Yeah, I just think they're working through some of the challenges with some of the new personnel that we have, and in particular, Erik up top. I think with every day, they get a little bit more comfortable. They can read each other's tendencies. At the beginning of training camp, and through a lot of training camp, there was movement – but it wasn't a lot of movement with a purpose. I think as they're working through the challenges and getting more familiar with one another, they're starting to move with a purpose. I think yours you saw that tonight. They were at their best tonight.”