CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The legacy and lore of this franchise are built on offense.
You can find testimony to the Penguins' 15 NHL scoring championships hanging in the rafters at PPG Paints Arena, but not a single banner honoring a Selke or Vezina trophy recipient, and with good reason.
The Penguins haven't had anyone win either of those.
They probably won't have one this season, either, but for a change, their regular-season success looks to be due more to their proficiency at preventing goals than producing them.
The Penguins enter their game against the Canadiens Tuesday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena allowing an average of 2.44 goals per game, fewer than any team except Carolina (2.15) and Calgary (2.21).
They have finished as high as 12th in the league rankings just once during the past five seasons -- that was in 2019-20, when they allowed an average of 2.84 -- and have not had a goals-average average close to their current one since 2015-16 (2.43).
Considering that their goals-for average is a middle-of-the-pack 2.93 per game, it's not a reach to suggest that they are contending for a playoff berth in 2021-22 largely because of their consistently strong defensive work.
Oh, there have been exceptions -- such as losses in Ottawa and Washington Nov. 13 and 14, when the Penguins gave up six goals in each game -- but for most of 2021-22, the Penguins have been playing defense like they mean it.
It has rivaled the kind of defense that, in previous seasons, tended to be seen mostly when they were on a playoff run and determined to challenge for a Stanley Cup.
A lot of factors, from Tristan Jarry's reliably strong goaltending to the Penguins' league-leading penalty-kill, have contributed to their defensive prowess, but the most significant might be that Mike Sullivan and his staff have gotten a true buy-in from up and down the lineup. Good defense is hard work, and the Penguins have proven willing to put in the requisite effort through most of their first 27 games.
"The players are committed to playing on both sides of the puck, and when we do that, we can play a stingy game, defensively," Sullivan said after the Penguins' practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex Monday. "It's a collective effort. It takes everyone. ... The players are the guys who are making that commitment, and their attention to detail has been really good.
"When we're trying to defend the good areas -- as we would call it, the 'good ice' -- we're trying to defend the scoring area with numbers. And we're trying to defend it with a vengeance, as best we can, to try to limit the quality. Not only the quality of the chance, but also the quantity."
They've fared reasonably well at that, too. The Penguins are yielding an average of 30.4 shots per game, ninth-fewest in the league.
"We're just going out there with a collective effort," Jarry said.
Kris Letang suggested that the Penguins' vigorous defensive work is rooted in the injury-depleted lineup on which they had to rely early in the season, a time when holding down the goals-against was key to professional survival.
"At the beginning of the year, we were missing a lot of key pieces," he said. "We knew that we were going to win with the effort of (all) six guys on the ice. ... As guys came back, we kept playing the same way, defensively."
MORE FROM THE PRACTICE
• Injured forwards Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust had an on-ice workout before the team's practice. Guentzel, who appeared to injure his right hand when he was struck by a shot in Seattle last Monday, did not shoot the puck as he normally would, opting instead to loft pucks toward the net. The session was overseen by Matt Cullen, now a member of the Penguins' player development staff.
• Evgeni Malkin skated separately from Guentzel and Rust, then participated in the team practice. He continued to wear a white, no-contact jersey, but did get some work with the second power play unit. Sullivan said Malkin is "making really good progress."
• Sullivan endorsed Vancouver's hiring of Jim Rutherford as interim GM and president of hockey operations. "I think he's terrific at what he does," Sullivan said. "I think he'll do a tremendous job for Vancouver. He has a wealth of experience. The Canucks will be the benefactors of the experience that he will bring to the table."
• Jarry, on Casey DeSmith's strong performance during victories against the Kraken and Ducks: "He's playing great. That's what you want ... both goalies playing as well as they can. That does nothing but help the team. It doesn't matter who is in net."
• The Canadiens practiced on the second rink at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex at the same time the Penguins were working out on the primary one.
• Personnel combinations:
Evan Rodrigues-Sidney Crosby-Kasperi Kapanen
Jason Zucker-Jeff Carter-Danton Heinen
Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Brock McGinn
Drew O'Connor-Brian Boyle-Dominik Simon
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
Mike Matheson-Chad Ruhwedel
Extras: Sam Lafferty, Mark Friedman, Evgeni Malkin.
Power play No. 1: Crosby, Letang, Zucker, Carter, Rodrigues.
Power play No. 2: Kapanen, Marino, Heinen, Simon and O'Connor (with Malkin rotating in)
