Penguins

Friday Insider: The jolt that jumpstarted Kessel

Jan 22, 2016 • 12:02 am

Contrary to widespread public perception, the Penguins can be tough on their stars.

Oh, it's not that they'll outright torment Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or anyone else in the core. There would be little point to that, anyway. These players are, by nature, highly driven, and kicking them when they're down can be counterproductive. But when a push is needed, the push is given. And based on what I've heard, the pushes for all of them came authoritatively and from way on high earlier this season.

Well, add Phil Kessel to the list.

After Kessel scored twice Thursday night in the 4-3 victory over the Flyers at Consol Energy Center, I asked a high-ranking team official if Kessel might be benefiting from having Carl Hagelin's comparable speed added to his line. And man, that team official wanted no part of such a concept.

No, this team official instead went out of his way first to praise Kessel for working much harder of late but also to note that the team's push to that end -- one that was labeled a "work in progress" but apparently happened quite recently -- had far more to do with it than Hagelin. Details on who did the talking weren't shared, but it was described as being plenty animated and definitely above the player level.

Whatever works, right?

See, Kessel's generated a ton of shots, as I noted in a column/interview last week, but what he hasn't done -- and this was the team's concern -- was to use his speed to get open for more and better chances than what he'd been getting.

An excellent case in point was his first goal Thursday:

The Flyers' Ryan White needs to track Kessel on this play and doesn't, giving White plenty in common with his teammates on this night. But give Kessel credit, too: He begins this sequence atop the left circle, where he's basically been stationary all winter on the power play. Not this time. He sees the Penguins gaining possession down low and bolts toward the crease. And even when White wakes up and tries to tie up the stick, he shoves through and gets his shot.

Not to make Kessel out to be the next Tomas Holmstrom here, but he did what was needed to get free. That's been his MO all through his NHL career, and it's starting to show.

But hey, let's not kid anyone that Hagelin hasn't made a difference, not with these guys launching themselves on a two-on-one once a period since Mike Sullivan put them together.

Kessel told me skating with Hagelin has been "a ton of fun," and Hagelin said this:

• This is a repeat of a repeat, but my goodness, anyone who thinks there's anything amiss between Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle is wrong. I was told plenty more after this game to powerfully support that.

• There are vibes from within the Steelers that, much as management would like to address maybe its toughest call of the offseason by keeping the offensive line intact for 2016, it won't happen. It actually can't happen, given other signing priorities for extensions. Notable among those, of course, is David DeCastro.

That would wrap up the right side of the line, and Maurkice Pouncey, of course, will be the center. That leaves Ramon Foster and Kelvin Beachum on the left as the big decisions. And the gut feeling I get from there is that Beachum will -- rightly -- look to be paid as a left tackle, which means a premium. With how well Alejandro Villanueva played at left tackle, paying Beachum big money would be a luxury. Foster would love -- and I mean love -- to stay, and the Steelers wouldn't mind having him in light of having virtually zero depth at guard.

Put that all together, and it's Beachum goes, Foster stays, and all else is status quo.

• Leadership shows up after hard losses, not when things are easy. So it's plenty telling that, after Pitt's horrific loss to North Carolina State three nights ago at the Pete, Michael Young did more than step up when I raised that subject with him:

Good for him. Great kid. And remember, both he and Jamel Artis, these Panthers' unquestioned best players, are juniors. Give them a guard who can shoot better than 1 percent in conference games, and they'll be tremendous.

FROM JOSH YOHE:

• To further the point above about accountability for the stars, here's another tale:

During Sullivan’s first game as coach, Dec. 14 against the Capitals, he dabbled in using Crosby and Malkin on separate power-play units.

The next day, he had a chat with them. It was fairly simple. Sullivan asked if the duo wanted to play together on the power play. Crosby and Malkin both said they did.

And so, Sullivan made something clear: All the turnovers that he had witnessed when watching film of the top power play up to that point — Crosby was responsible for a ton, but Malkin managed his share, too — had to stop. If they managed to stop turning the puck over, Sullivan said, they could play on the power play together.

Perhaps this little talk was what the stars needed.

Since then, the Penguins have scored 16 power-play goals in 56 opportunities. That’s a conversion rate of 29.5 percent.

• Sergei Gonchar has been with the Penguins for a portion of this week, and the defensemen very clearly have an appreciation for working with him. The Penguins want Gonchar, in particular, to work as closely as possible with Derrick Pouliot. And for good reason. Gonchar is one of the great offensive defensemen of his generation, and Pouliot is a player with top-end skill.

• The Penguins are preparing to play Sunday in Washington even though our nation’s capital is expecting close to 2 feet of snow this weekend. The storm is projected to hit Washington Friday afternoon and finish Saturday night. The Penguins play at home at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, which is 24 hours before their game against the Capitals. Since the Penguins and Capitals are playing in a nationally televised game on Sunday, general manager Jim Rutherford told me that he expects the game will be played.

The question is, how will the Penguins get there?

If all the airports in the Washington area are closed, the Penguins might have to take a bus on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In a blizzard. That doesn’t sound fun. But there is precedent for this. The NHL wouldn’t cancel a Sunday afternoon game between the Penguins and Capitals six years ago — it was the national NBC game, featuring Crosby and Alex Ovechkin — right after a massive snowstorm hit. After playing in Montreal on a Saturday afternoon, the Penguins took a flight to Newark and then took a bus to snowy Washington, arriving in the wee hours of the morning.

FROM JASON MACKEY:

• I’m not around the Penguins a ton these days, but when I am, I can’t help but think of this growing sentiment among management while I was still on the beat: One of their issues with Mike Johnston was the way the Penguins practiced under him.

Johnston preached defense. That was, as you can expect, reflected in the drills the Penguins did, many emphasizing reading and reacting rather than skating with the puck with confidence and creating.

It’s quite the opposite under Sullivan.

That’s not a mark against Johnston. He’s a good coach and a better man. We actually exchanged texts not long ago, and he reiterated how much he enjoyed his time in Pittsburgh and said he was looking forward to his next adventure.

I’m sure he’ll wind up a success somewhere, but his philosophies and what management wanted to see did differ.