Both Mike Sullivan and Sidney Crosby are hopeful the Pittsburgh Penguins can gain traction in the second half of the season.
PITTSBURGH - The matchup against the Winnipeg Jets will be the 41st game of the season for the Pittsburgh Penguins wrapping up a volatile first half.
Through the first 40 games, the Penguins have a record of 21-13-6 for 48 points and fifth in the Metropolitan Division.
While still clinging to a wild card position, Mike Sullivan knows his team can be better and is expecting more from them.
“The area where I think we need to improve is just in our consistency of play,” Sullivan said. “That’s probably an obvious response.”
Saying that’s the obvious response is fair, the Penguins have battled through six and seven-game losing streaks while having a special teams that is either red hot or ice cold.
But, when the Penguins are on their game, they’re unstoppable; they’ve had two winning streaks go 5+ games and at on point were riding a 13-2-1 stretch.
“We’ve had moments where we’ve been really competitive, we’ve won a lot of games,” Sullivan said. “We’ve had stretches where we haven’t handled the ebbs and flows of the game.”
Captain Sidney Crosby echoed that statement saying he hopes the Penguins can also gain traction as a consistent team.
“We’ve had a good run there in December,” Crosby said. “I think that’s our game. We got to find a way to bring that a little bit more.”
The Penguins have been getting great performances from multiple key players and should be huge boosts in maintaining a level of success.
Guys like Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jake Guentzel have put together good years so far, while players like Jason Zucker and P.O. Joseph have been welcomed suprises.
With other players doing their part, it’s a matter of getting better in the right categories.
“I know we’re capable of being better,” Sullivan said. “We know what our game looks like when we’re at our best. We’ve got to try and bring that game more consistently.”
They may be holding onto a playoff spot right now, but the Penguins know they have another level in them; they’ve seen it before and know they can do it again.
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