PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pens dropped to 1-2 against a likely first-round playoff opponent as the Rangers won 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena. More than just the loss, Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said they have to learn to play a different style of hockey going into the last month of the regular season.
"We are going to have to be willing to take what the game gives us," Sullivan said. "We are going to have to be willing to get our noses over pucks and play a grind game and hang onto pucks. We have to be willing to go to the net."
"We got to get bodies there," said forward Brian Boyle of getting traffic in front of the net. "That's how we always want to play. Each line wants to get bodies there. Doesn't matter who you are, everyone wants to get there. It's a matter of will."
"We got to put pucks on net, you never know what happens," said forward Jake Guentzel. "Both our goals we have guys in front of the net if there is a tip or screen. We got to take something from this game and we got to make sure we put pucks to net and have net-front traffic and get in front of the net."
The Pens only got 24 shots on net on Tuesday and Sullivan said there won't be a lot of ice for the next month heading into the post-season. They must embrace the grind-it-out style typical at the end of the season.
"We are going to be in more-and-more of these games," Sullivan said. "We got to grow accustomed to it. We got to get excited about it. We have to embrace it. That's our challenge as a group going forward."
"We've got to find a comfort level in one-goal games, low-scoring games and low-event games because we are going to play a lot of good teams that defend hard."
That requires a bit of an identity shift for this team. Sullivan admits they often pass up the easy play for something more spectacular befitting a highly skilled team.
"The nature of our team is we are not a group that shoots the puck from everywhere," Sullivan said. "When you look at the makeup of our team, we tend to hang onto pucks. We look for more quality than quantity. I think that's part of the DNA of our group. We've got some playmakers that aren't just going to throw pucks to the net."
"I think we can adopt more of that mindset though. We can try to find a modified approach where we put more pucks there. It creates more decision-making on behalf of the defending players. It creates a next play opportunity in the scoring area. It will encourage guys to go there more often."
Boyle and Sidney Crosby were the goal scorers on Tuesday. Tristan Jarry stopped 23 shots as the Rangers have allowed four goals in the three matchups against the Penguins.
Matheson disagrees
The game-winning goal came early in the third as Chris Kreider scored on the power play 1:06 into the period. The Rangers on the power play as Pens defenseman Mike Matheson was called for a roughly penalty in a scrum at the end of the second period.
"I don't really know what I actually got called for," Matheson said. "I say I respectfully disagree with the call. I see their guy going at one of our best players. I just tried to get him away from him."
Zucker Closer
Out since late January due to a core muscle injury that required surgery, forward Jason Zucker took of the non-contact jersey.
"He was full contact today, full participation," Sullivan said of Zucker in morning practice Tuesday. "He skated with Ty (Hennes) for 40 minutes before the morning skate and then joined the morning skate in full capacity. That's the last hurdle before return to play is getting him in a game-real environment and getting him full contact. I think that's a significant step in the process."
New Forward
Pens signed college free agent forward Ty Glover to a three-year, entry-level contract worth $859,000 at the NHL level. The 21-year-old played two seasons at Western Michigan with 13 goals and 19 assists in 63 career games. He's 6'3", 201 pounds and will report to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton immediately on an amateur tryout contract.
Up Next
Pens play at the Land of 10,000 Lakes and Marc-Andre Fleury Thursday night in Minnesota at 8p. The Wild are in second to Colorado in the Central Division. The Pens play at the Avalanche Saturday and host them on Tuesday.
