CRANBERRY, Pa. -- As Mike Sullivan pondered the question for a moment, a slight smile began to curl his lips. The coach had a business decision to make: Should he answer the question truthfully? Or should he subject himself to a possible league fine?
"Your team received among the fewest power play opportunities in the league. Are teams defending differently or is it a matter of just not getting the calls?" is what I'd asked after the team's practice Friday at the Lemieux Sports Complex.
The response: "It's hard for me to comment on ... I do think we're a team that plays a fair amount with the puck."
Translation: The referees are letting way too much go.
"I don’t feel like there's a lot of power plays in general," Sidney Crosby was saying. "I don't know the number, but just from playing the first 30-some-odd games, it’s doesn’t feel like there's many."
Nope. The Penguins' 104 chances this season are the fourth-fewest in the NHL, behind only Toronto (101), Detroit (100) and Dallas (98).
That's in stark contrast to last season, when the Penguins' 260 chances were the eighth-most in the league. And they certainly made the most of it. In 2017-18, their 26.2 conversion rate was the highest in franchise history and led the league.
So what has changed?
The roster is basically the same. Sullivan's system that leans on puck possession and a quick transition is the same. And, as Sullivan points out, the Penguins do possess the puck. Their 50.38 Corsi For percentage ranks 14th in the league and their 371 high-danger-chances-for rank sixth. Those numbers suggest that the Penguins should be drawing more penalties.
Through 37 games, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel and Jamie Oleksiak lead the Penguins in penalties drawn with 10 each.
A season ago, Malkin and Bryan Rust finished in the top 30 in penalties drawn with 34 and 29, respectively. While with the Kings, Tanner Pearson was 2oth overall with 24. Obviously, Rust's slow start this season hasn't helped as he's drawn just seven. Pearson has just three, which is one more than Phil Kessel.
The lesson in this: Until the league starts cracking down on penalties, the Penguins are going to have to make do with the few power play chances they get.
That's exactly what their ninth-ranked unit -- clicking at a respectable 23.1 percent -- did in Thursday night's 5-2 win over the Red Wings. They scored on two of their three chances. It was the first time they'd scored multiple power play goals in a game since Nov. 15 vs. the Lightning.
Since going 2 for 6 on the power play in the season opener against Washington on Oct. 4, the Penguins have received just five chances in a game just once and that was Nov. 3 vs. Toronto.
"If there's going to be a low number of them, they become that much more important," Crosby said. "In a game like last night's, it's the difference in the game."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• Oleksiak skated in a full-contact jersey and was paired with regular defense partner, Olli Maatta. It would seem probable that Oleksiak makes his return tomorrow night in St. Louis after suffering a concussion sustained in a Dec. 19 fight against Washington's Tom Wilson.
If Oleksiak returns, Juuso Riikola would appear to be the odd-man out. Sullivan admitted it's not easy to mess with a lineup that, since Oleksiak has been out, has won all three games and has allowed just three goals. But as a coach, it's a good problem to have.
"We're gong to have to make some decisions moving forward but we're fortunate that we have the amount of guys playing well that we do, and we're going to need that if we're going to continue to get results," Sullivan said.
• Patric Hornqvist took a puck to the chin early in practice and did not return:
Here’s Hornqvist getting hit behind the net. pic.twitter.com/KGtqCegTMG
— Matt Guskey (@burghboy01) December 28, 2018
Sullivan didn't sound overly concerned. Hornqvist, whose third-period goal Thursday was his first since Dec. 4, has had little luck of late. He has missed nine of the last 15 games with either a concussion or upper body injury.
• Derek Grant skated in Hornqvist's spot on the second line while Jake Guentzel assumed his spot on the top power play unit.
• At long last, Chad Ruhwedel will play in a game ... albeit in Wilkes-Barre. The eighth defenseman on the roster was sent down to the AHL on a conditioning assignment. He does not come off of Pittsburgh's active roster during the stint. Ruhwedel has appeared in 11 games this season but none since Nov. 19 vs. the Sabres. Ruhwedel can stay in the AHL for up to two weeks. With Wilkes-Barre having seven games between now and Jan. 12, the organization felt it was a good time to get him in some games.
• With children off from school and many adults off from work for the holiday break, it was a standing-room only crowd at the Lemieux Sports Complex, where the main rink can seat 1,000. Parking near the facility was nearly impossible.
• Here were the lines and pairs used in Friday's practice:
Guentzel—Crosby—Rust
Simon—Malkin—Grant
Pearson—Brassard—Kessel
Sheahan—Cullen—Aston-Reese
Dumoulin—Letang
Pettersson—Johnson
Maatta—Oleksiak
(Riikola)