Sully Says: Penguins Committed to Contend
Pittsburgh earned a resounding victory over the powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning to improve to 2-0
It was an excellent performance against a powerhouse team who's been to three straight Stanley Cup Finals. Sidney Crosby had his second consecutive three-point effort, picking up a goal and two assists. Both of his linemates, Jake Guentzel and Rickard Rakell, also scored. Danton Heinen, Jeff Carter and Bryan Rust rounded out the scoring.
The offense keeps rolling, and so does the power play, as Pittsburgh struck twice on the man-advantage in both games. At the other end, Tristan Jarry made 34 saves. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan shared his insights afterward.
On if this team has some juice after the way last season ended, and if they look like they're ready to prove something:"I think so. They're a proud group. They have an appetite to win. To a man, the core group of players that have been here, they're hungry to win. They're hungry to win. There's no other way to say it. We see it every day, they're willing to put the work in and they're willing to make the sacrifices. We talk about it with our players all the time, it's a daily endeavor. It doesn't happen by accident. You've got to go out and earn it in this league every day. Nothing's inevitable. We have good players, but a lot of teams have good players. It takes more than good players to win. You need a certain level of commitment, and I think our guys display that. They put themselves in a position year in and year out to contend. I just think that's part of their DNA, and they continue to show it."
On if there is more pride in the offense tonight, or the overall defense against a team like Tampa:"We were pleased with just our compete level, our overall game. I thought it was a really good hockey game with two good teams. The pace of play was high. I noticed it from the bench, just the pace of play in this game versus the last game we played was a lot higher. The transition game on both teams was dangerous. So I just thought it was a really good hockey game. They've got some game-breaking players, as do we. They're going to make plays. Some of their guys aren't easy to defend against, and they're going to make plays. I thought we defended hard. And when they got some looks, Tristan made some big stops for us, especially in that third period on one of their power plays. That backdoor chance that (Steven) Stamkos got, that's a 10-bell save in my mind. That was that was a terrific save by Jars. In order to win in this league, you need that save once in a while. He certainly provided it when we broke down defensively. But we defended hard, and I think offensively, we were trying to take what the game gives us and trying to establish the game that we think gives us the best chance to win.
On how the penalty kill, which went 3-for-4, looked after Sullivan said it needed some work following the opener:"I thought we did a better job tonight. We still gave up a goal, but just from a process standpoint, I thought the guys worked really hard at it. As the game went on, I thought we got better at it. A lot of times, when you can have a little bit of success, it breeds confidence. I think that's important for our penalty kill, is just trying to celebrate the little things help us make progress. I thought the guys did a great job just as far as being active down the ice, putting pressure on the breakout, disrupting some of the timing and the flow, making the entries difficult. We won some faceoffs, we blocked some shots, and then they had a couple of good reads. Stamkos scores on a one-timer, he's an elite scorer, and we've got to try to do a better job just denying that shot. But other than that, there was a lot to like.
On if Guentzel looks like he's maybe a step faster:"He's just a really good player. You know, he does have a jump in his step. I think his fitness level is as good as it's ever been, and that's probably evident. Just his ability to sustain pace, shift and shift out, I think has been really evident throughout training camp and just this early part of the season. He's just a terrific player. He's an elite player in this league. In my mind, he's one of the best goal scorers in the league. He just kind of flies under the radar. I don't think he does in Pittsburgh anymore, but I think he's a little underappreciated in the hockey world."
On the line of Danton Heinen, Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen: "I really liked them tonight. I thought they had a much better game tonight than their last game. Carts didn't play a lot in the regular in the exhibition season, he only got one game. So just getting a couple of games under his belt, I think really helps him. I thought Carts had a strong game tonight. I think Kappy's played really well. His speed is evident. He's pushing defensemen back, he's pushing the pace, and I think his speed is a big factor on that line. I think he's done a really good job there. And I think Danton Heinen is just a good conscientious two-way player. So that line has the makings, in my mind, to just to be a real sound 200-foot line on both sides of the puck. They have the ability to produce offense and score, but they also have a defensive conscience, and we have complete trust that we can put them out there against anybody and they can get the job done. The combinations we've had so far, we've been pleased with. We'll see how it goes moving forward, but I thought Carts' line tonight was good."
