Penguins Changes Finally Starting to Work
A sweeping change made to the Pittsburgh Penguins power play seems to have sparked some positive energy.
PITTSBURGH – For the better part of the 2023-24 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have had one of the NHL’s worst power plays. Considering the mount of talent, the Penguins possess, the expectations were high entering the year. Even with those lofty goals, the Penguins power play has fallen well short of the mark.
Entering the All-Star break, the Penguins power play sits 31st in the NHL with a 13.1% success rate. The only team with a lower percentage is the Chicago Blackhawks, and they’re not far off at a 12.6% rate.
In their match against the Montreal Canadiens, the Penguins finally made some big changes to the power play, taking both Erik Karlsson and Evgeni Malkin off the top unit. Kris Letang and Valtteri Puustinen were given the promotion from the second group.
While the Penguins still went 0/2 with the man advantage against the Canadiens, they seemed to have an extra step in their game. The top unit consisting of Letang, Puustinen, Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, and Jake Guentzel got a couple of great opportunities.
“I thought Sid’s unit had a lot of looks,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “They had some juice. As far as where it goes moving forward, we’re going to have to make decisions accordingly. We made the decision to split the groups for obvious reasons.”
Sullivan didn’t count out the idea that things could change back at a moment’s notice, but for now, they seem to have momentum heading into the break.
Following their loss to the Florida Panthers, Letang noted that things have been up and down for the power play, but they needed to stand strong.
"It's not been easy," Letang said. "We get traction sometimes and at other points we get discouraged. We have to stick with it and make sure any chance we have to step on the ice and have a power play we try to make a difference.”
There is still a ton of room for improvement within the Penguins power play, but they seemed to have gained some ground as they enter the bye week.
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