VGK:

2

FLA:

3

Final

Sullivan Defends Power Play In End Of Season Presser

Pittsburgh Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan held his end-of-season press conference yesterday. While he had much to say about several topics, the power play was the most important.

The power play this season had the very skilled players of forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and defenseman Kris Letang. The power play had a 21.7 percent success rate, was great at moving the puck, and had high-danger chances. At other times, the power play gave up shorthanded chances and struggled at getting set up in the zone. Sully, however, stayed defiant of the power play. 

He talked about different analytics to support his facts and talked about the good looks she got. 

Sully said, “I think our power play finished 14th in the league if I’m not mistaken. Is that correct? Our net power play finished 10th. Is that correct?” he started. “OK, so when you subtract the goals against from the goals that they scored, they’re 10th in the league. So they’re top third in the league. Actuals, all right?”

He also said that the team assessed the power play throughout the year and that he and the team will continue to do so during the off-season. 

He will be doing a bit more than that this off-season as well. He was named part of the transition team for finding new upper management for the Penguins following the firing of GM Ron Hextall, president of hockey operations Brian Burke, and AGM Chris Pryor. 

Another thing Sully talked about and praised the play of goaltender Tristan Jarry, saying, “I think Tristan is a top-tier goalie in this league. I’ve said this all year long, and I believe he’ll continue to be moving forward. … This year was a particular challenge for him for a lot of reasons, but I think Tristan is a very good goalie in this league.” 

He also mentioned that Jarry would not need surgery for his injuries as far as he knew. 

Sully also praised the team as a whole, saying, “I believe this team has the makings of being a very competitive hockey team,” he said. “Our core players have the ability to play at an elite level.”

Stanley Cup Aspirations Cue’ the Duck Boats Pod

The boys are back after a long break but have plenty to talk about as the playoffs are in full swing. We go series by series, looking at how teams have fared so far and who will come out on top. Thanks for listening! Please rate and review our show on your favorite listening platform. Check out our partner's website at www.insidetherink.com for all your latest hockey news.
  1. Stanley Cup Aspirations
  2. The Final Countdown
  3. Here Come the Playoffs
  4. Home Stretch
  5. Kevy Cooks

Nik Shermeto

PT ‘23 | 🇺🇸/🇨🇦 | Penguins writer for Inside The Rink | Thoughts are my own.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Greg Cronin Could Flourish in Anaheim

On Monday, the Anaheim Ducks announced that Greg Cronin was hired to be the Ducks’ 11th head coach in franchise history. Cronin, 60, will take on his first NHL head coaching job with 36 years of coaching experience, including NCAA, AHL, and NHL. Cronin has been the bench boss for the Colorado Avalanche AHL affiliate […]

Read More

NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Gracyn Sawchyn

Gracyn Sawchyn is a versatile 2023 NHL Draft-eligible center/right winger who doesn’t carry many liabilities in his game. Born January 9th, 2005, in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Sawchyn has had an interesting path to the draft thus far. He played for the vaunted Minnesota prep school, Shattuck St. Mary, for his Freshman and Sophomore years of […]

Read More

Kelly McCrimmon’s Master Plan

Here is the quickest way to explain the evolution of General Manager Kelly McCrimmon’s plan (#McCrimmoPlan). The Vegas Golden Knights had three very good line threes in Season One. In Season Six, the VGK has a great line one with two great line twos. Many wondered why VGK retooled their season two roster. McCrimmon explained […]

Read More