Mike Sullivan has no plans to make changes to the Pittsburgh Penguins lagging power play.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have gotten off to one of the slowest starts the franchise has seen in nearly 20 years.
With a 3-5-0 record, the Penguins sit dead last in the Metropolitan Division and will be doing quite a bit of playing from behind over the next few weeks.
An area that has really held the team back is on special teams, specifically the power play, which has only scored twice through the first eight games of the season
After 16 consecutive chances without a goal, one would think changes need to be made.
Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan understands the power play hasn’t been good enough, but doesn’t have plans of making moves just yet.
“We just got to stay with it,” Sullivan said. “I think they’re creating opportunities. If they weren’t, that would be a different conversation.”
Sullivan pointed out that while the puck hasn’t been going in on the power play, the units are creating chances.
“You look at the underlying numbers, they’re one of the top units in the league,” Sullivan said. “If you believe in advanced stats.”
In saying the Penguins are generating chances with the man advantage isn’t totally false, but they need to find goals.
Sullivan does mention simplifying the game and taking more shots at the net, but that's the bare minimum.
With 20 total opportunities under their belt to start the year, the Penguins have only scored on the power play twice.
A 10% success rates place them 30th in the NHL ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues; both are teams the Penguins have already lost to, as well.
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