PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There is one team in the Eastern Conference with fewer wins than the Penguins. More adversity now before hosting Arizona Tuesday night with top-line forward Bryan Rust the latest player out weeks with injury, but the team says it’s not an excuse. What head coach Mike Sullivan and President and GM Kyle Dubas said Monday of turning it around.
“Although our record isn’t where we want it to be, there have been a lot of good things happening with this team, in this early part of the season,” Sullivan said. “We need to grow in those areas.”
He said if you do that, there is an opportunity for more growth. He said what they can’t do is be overwhelmed by the circumstance they are in which is currently seventh in the Metropolitan Division. They can’t dwell on it, rather they need to come to practice and every game being excited about that opportunity.
“We need to stay in the moment and ignore all the noise around us,” Sullivan said. “Just focus on the process of getting better every day. We believe in this group. This coaching staff has unwavering belief in this group that we have. They have shown it time-and-time again how capable they are.”
“We have the leadership. We have the makings of being a competitive team. We are going to dig in here and work at it.”
The team President and GM had similar thoughts. Kyle Dubas said they have to commit to the process and that is going to lead them to winning games and changing their course. He knows no one outside of the organization cares about little tendencies or underlying moments that show positives and better days ahead. Bottom line is they need to execute.
Dubas said he’s going to give the coaching staff and players as much time as possible to figure out their issues. He won’t make any decisions based on how they do this week or next, rather it’s about where they are at the All-Star Break. Then he says he will know more about this team.
Repeating, there are no quick fixes or major moves coming over the next month-plus according to Dubas.
“Sometimes it takes a little bit to get for the snowball to get rolling down the hill,” Sullivan said, adding you often aren’t as bad or good as you think you are. “This group has what it takes to win hockey games in this league. We are a competitive team. There is a fine line between winning and losing. When you look at some of the games and the differences in the outcome. There are a few moments you can point to.”
Few of those moments have come on the power play, 0 for its last 36, it’s been over a month since the last goal with an extra man. Dubas said they discuss the power play every day internally.
“When the power play struggles, it’s the heaviest feeling you can have,” Dubas said Monday. “You come to the rink and you get one revolution and as soon as it doesn’t work the exact way that you want it to, especially when you’re at home, you feel the angst that goes with it. I think that the players that we have and the coaching staff that we have are far too good not to solve their way out of it.
Sullivan said he looks at the power play ‘as a huge opportunity for growth’ and thinks it will be the difference for the Pens going forward. He believes they will not only eventually score, but it will be a catalyst. Sullivan said it’s a proud group on the power play unit and they continue to work and attack it with a good attitude.
Dubas said he’s behind Sullivan and believes he’s the right coach. He said, put the heat on him for not providing a better team.
Pens management is going to be patient, maybe that will pay off. It’s not like it could get much worse right now.