For Penguins, where there's will, there's away taken at PPG Paints Arena (Penguins)

GETTY

Mike Sullivan.

Winning consistently on the road in the NHL isn't easy.

It requires strong goaltending. Efficient special teams. Opportunistic offense. Discipline. Focus.

It demands a sound plan and the will to execute it effectively, regardless of whatever adversity a team might face in the process. Doesn't matter if it's rooted in an injury-diluted lineup, a particularly hostile crowd or some other variable.

There's no question that harvesting points in away games takes resolve. Lots and lots of resolve.

And the Penguins have shown plenty of that during their first 15 games on the road in 2021-22, going 9-3-3 in them.

"The results speak for themselves," Mike Sullivan said. "It's hard to win games without commitment. These guys certainly are committed to play the game the right way. It's collective effort. I think that's the most important aspect of it. I think we've done a pretty good job on the road, with respect to that."

The numbers the Penguins have generated on the road so far validate Sullivan's contention. Consider that the Penguins have:

• A league-best success rate of 89.9 percent killing penalties.

• Allowed an average of 2.40 goals per game, fewer than any team except Calgary (2.06) and Carolina (2.18).

• Controlled 51.4 percent of their faceoffs, placing them seventh in the league.

• Outscored their opponents (who obviously have a home-ice advantage), 48-36, for a differential of plus-.8 per game that is the NHL's second-highest.

* A higher save percentage (92.29 percent) than the home teams they have faced (91.45).

• Outshot the home teams they've played, 508-417, a league-best differential of plus-91.

"Going on the road and being able to defend, keep the chances down, can sometimes take the crowd out of it," Brian Boyle said.

Indeed, the Penguins have been fundamentally sound most of the time during their away games, and some occasional blemishes -- a 6-3 loss in Ottawa on Nov. 13 and a 6-1 defeat in Washington the next night come immediately to mind -- don't detract much from their body of work during the first two-plus months of the season.

"I think we like to play a pretty simple game, regardless of whether it's at home or on the road," Sidney Crosby said. "And you tend to do that a little more on the road. Maybe that has something to do with it. We don't try to be too flashy or fancy, and sometimes that carries over to being a good thing when you're on the road."

If the NHL's schedule holds -- and COVID-19 makes that far from certain -- the Penguins will have ample opportunity in coming weeks to maintain their momentum in away games.

Their next three games are supposed to be in Boston Monday, Toronto Wednesday and Ottawa next Friday, and seven of their first 10 games in January will be on the road.

Winning as often as they have so far might not be realistic -- the 21 points they've taken out of 15 road games project to 115 over an 82-game season played entirely on the road -- but breaking even (or better) on their remaining 26 away games is a realistic objective if the Penguins don't stray from the formula that has served them so well.

"I think we're a pretty committed group, in terms of how we want to go about our game," Boyle said.

Perhaps it's not entirely a coincidence that the Penguins' road record is almost identical to their 8-5-3 mark at PPG Paints Arena. for while visiting teams have to make some adjustments, such as not being able to make the final personnel change, the Penguins' basic approach doesn't vary, based on the venue.

"We try to worry about ourselves and bring the same game everywhere," Danton Heinen said.

That begins with the system Sullivan and his staff began installing in the earliest days of training camp. Although it might get tweaked or fine-tuned at times, its core principles are steadfast.

"It's not like we're drawing up a game plan to play at home and a different game plan to play on the road," Sullivan said. "We're trying to put a game on the ice every night that gives us the best chance to win, regardless of where the rink is. Having said that, there are some difficult arenas that you go into on the road, with respect to the fans and the energy and things of that nature.

"We're playing a committed game. And when you play a committed game and you play a collective team game, you're going to give yourself a chance to win most nights."

More often than not, the Penguins have taken advantage of those opportunities. Especially when they're on the road.



Loading...
Loading...