Mike Sullivan said Sunday that when his team is at its best, they're getting "balanced scoring, a balanced attack."
"Lately, that hasn't been the case," he said.
The Penguins' 4-3 loss to the Kings Sunday at PPG Paints Arena extended their losing streak to three games, following this week's overtime loss to the Kraken and shootout loss to the Red Wings. In that span, only Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin have goals.
The bad news is that the secondary scoring that helped carry the Penguins through the early part of the season has become nonexistent.
The good news through this stretch is that the power play has been on a dominant run as of late, dating back to Malkin's return to the lineup.
When Malkin made his season debut back on Jan. 11, the power play had a success rate of 17.5%, having just scored 17 goals on the man advantage in 97 power play opportunities this season. Since Jan. 11, they have scored 10 goals in just 32 power-play opportunities, a success rate of 29.4% in those 11 games.
That's quite the turnaround.
Sullivan credited assistant coach Todd Reirden on Sunday with "getting (the power play players) on the same page, then challenging them with the points of contention that the coaching staff has had."
The result is what Sullivan called a "dynamic" power play.
"I think as of late they've done a much better job of just making sure that they don't turn into a high-risk group where we're giving up too many opportunities against," Sullivan said. "That's an important aspect of our power play."
Sullivan pointed to the "little things" that has allowed this group to find success -- pressuring opponents, forcing turnovers, retrieving pucks and using their instincts. He also credited strong faceoff performances while on the power play, with the Penguins winning 55.9 percent of draws on the man advantage in the last 11 games. That's an area in which they've especially improved as of late, winning 73.3 percent of power play faceoffs over the five games within the last week.
The Penguins capitalized on two of their four power play opportunities in Sunday's loss.
Kris Letang banked a pass off the boards to Malkin in the second period. Malkin then passed the puck up to Crosby, who quickly lifted the puck far-side over Cal Petersen's blocker:
Marcus Pettersson doesn't play on either of the two power-play units, but from his perspective from the bench he credits this surge of power play success to an "aggressive mindset."
"They're obviously very skilled players on the power play, and I think in a game like today like and last game, they generate a lot of momentum even when they don't score, they get good looks. So I think when they're aggressive and they're shooting, I think they're amazing."
The second power play goal was part luck, and part due to some of those things Sullivan spoke about.
Crosby cleanly won a faceoff in the Kings' end. Just as everyone set up, Rust tried to send a pass to Malkin through the crease for a tap-in opportunity. The pass didn't reach its intended target, instead going off of the skate of Drew Doughty and in:
"We're just working hard for each other and just taking what the game gives us," Rust said of the power play. "I think we've done a pretty good job of scoring in all sorts of different ways. I think if we just keep working hard and do things for each other, I think that's going to keep going."
Rust also noted that this five-man unit of himself, Crosby, Guentzel, Malkin and Letang hasn't even been together very long this season, with different players being in and out of the lineup due to injury or COVID issues. And now that they have some continuity, they're able to build off of this success with each game.
"We're just getting more and more confidence and we're getting more and more comfortable with each other," he said.
After going through some rough patches earlier in the season, the Penguins' power play has turned into a consistent source of production over the last few weeks.
"Our power play has the ability to be a difference-maker," Sullivan said. "And I think the guys that are on it have done a real good job."
If the Penguins could just get that depth scoring back, they could do some serious damage.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Danton Heinen participated in warmups then was a late scratch. It's not clear what happened to him, but Sullivan said afterward that Heinen was being evaluated for a an upper-body injury.
• Radim Zohorna said that he went to work out in the gym after warmups, and then someone from the equipment staff told him that he'd be playing in Heinen's place. Zohorna skated on the third line alongside Jeff Carter and Zach Aston-Reese, and got some time on the second play unit. playing a career-high 14:32 in the loss. He didn't record any shots on goal but recorded seven hits, two takeaways and one blocked shot.
Sullivan said he thought Zohorna played "real well."
"He brought us some energy," Sullivan said. "You know, I thought he made some plays, he used his big frame to protect pucks. And I thought he was good on both sides of the puck."
• It was a scoreless first period, the fifth game in a row in which the Penguins failed to score in the first 20 minutes.
• The Kings took a 3-1 lead in the second period. Alex Iafallo opened the scoring with a one-timer off a feed from Anze Kopitar just 77 seconds into the middle frame. Crosby's power play goal tied the game, but Trevor Moore beat Tristan Jarry with a backhand shot that went top shelf just over a minute later to regain the lead. Doughty and Kopitar got a 2-on-1 with Mike Matheson as the only man back, and Doughty knocked in a rebound to put the Kings up by two.
• Rust brought the Penguins back within one goal in the third period with this shot:
• Rust's second goal tied the game, but Moore scored his second of the game just over three minutes later to regain the lead. The breakaway goal started with a Crosby turnover in the Penguins' offensive zone. It would stand to be the game-winner:
• Jarry made 34 saves on 38 shots.
• Crosby's power play goal was the 498th goal of his career, now two away from No. 500.
• Guentzel's secondary assist on Rust's second goal was his 300th NHL point. He becomes the seventh member of the 2013 draft class to reach the milestone, and the first to do so who was selected outside of the top 10 picks. He was the quickest of those seven to hit 300 points, only needing 338 games.
PENGUINS PR
• Brian Dumoulin left late in the first period after blocking a shot, but returned for the start of the second. It was surprising to see him right back out there after how bad this looked:
• The Penguins outhit the Kings 56-12, the highest regular-season hit total in franchise history since the NHL started tracking the stat in 1997. It's impressive, though not exactly the best stat in the world to have given that it indicates that the Kings had the puck a lot more than would be ideal. Evan Rodrigues led in hits with 10, and Aston-Reese was second with nine. Zohorna's seven hits ranked third.
• The Penguins were outshot 38-26. Guentzel led with six.
• The Penguins had 11 takeaways to the Kings' nine, with John Marino recording the most with three.
• The Penguins had a 13-12 edge in blocked shots, with Letang leading the Penguins with four.
• Before the game the Penguins recalled defenseman P.O Joseph and forwards Kasper Bjorkqvist and Michael Chaput from Wilkes-Barre and put them on the taxi squad. Taxi squads are only being used until the All-Star Break, and the Penguins only have one game, Tuesday at home against the Capitals, before the break. Wilkes-Barre was in Cleveland on Friday and Saturday, and those three just didn't ride back on the bus to Wilkes-Barre, they got their own ride to Pittsburgh.
• The Kings wore their shiny mirrored helmets in the game. They're wild. Personally, I think that they're so bad that they're great. The white gloves though are just bad.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Trevor Moore, Kings
2. Bryan Rust, Penguins
3. Anze Kopitar, Kings
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Forward Drew O'Connor was put on LTIR retroactive to Jan. 15. He's week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Frank Seravalli reported Thursday that it's a collapsed lung, which Sullivan would not confirm or comment on after Thursday's game. O'Connor began skating on his own without gear on Sunday.
• Forward Jason Zucker underwent surgery to repair a core muscle on Jan. 25 and is week-to-week.
• Goaltender Louis Domingue was put on IR after he was struck in the right foot by a puck in the morning skate on Jan. 20. He is considered week-to-week and is wearing a boot.
• Forward Teddy Blueger underwent surgery to repair a fractured jaw on Jan. 24 and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.
• Forward Danton Heinen was a late scratch after warmups Sunday and is being evaluated for an upper-body injury.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Evgeni Malkin - Evan Rodrigues
Zach Aston-Reese - Jeff Carter - Radim Zohorna
Dominik Simon - Brian Boyle - Kasperi Kapanen
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - John Marino
Mike Matheson - Chad Ruhwedel
And for Todd McLellan's Kings:
Alex Iafallo - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore - Philip Danault - Viktor Arvidsson
Andreas Athanasiou - Quinton Byfield - Dustin Brown
Brendan Lemieux - Blake Lizotte - Arthur Kaliyev
Jacob Moverare - Drew Doughty
Tobias Bjornfot - Sean Durzi
Olli Maatta - Austin Strand
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will practice in Cranberry at 11 a.m. on Monday. Their last game before the All-Star Break is Monday at home against the Capitals.
THE CONTENT
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