Pittsburgh's decision to split their power play units evenly has paid off for them in its early returns

Even though their power play has been miles better than it was last season, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan knew their man advantage had been struggling for a good while.

So, ahead of their 5-2 win against Toronto on Nov. 7 - when the team scored two power play goals - he and power play coach David Quinn decided to make a change. 

"We just felt like we wanted to make a change there," Sullivan said in the post-game. "I thought our first unit had struggled for a while, and it wasn't just a few games. It's been a while, and we just felt like they were losing some traction."

Sullivan said it had also been affecting the players. 

"It was affecting their own demeanor, and that bleeds into five-on-five play," Sullivan said. "So, we thought it was the right thing. Sometimes, when you affect a little bit of change, it can be good for players."

And three games later, it's safe to say that change looks like it's paying off so far. 

Since splitting their power play units into two evenly-divided ones, the Penguins are four-for-12 on their power play, which is good for a 33.3 percent conversion rate. It's a small sample, but that's a better conversation rate than the league's best power play - the New Jersey Devils - at 30.9 percent.

The units have changed up a little bit within those three games, but in their 9-2 victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, the Penguins scored on two of their three power play attempts with these units:

     - PP1: Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell, Michael Bunting, Kris Letang, Matt Grzelcyk
     - PP2: Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Cody Glass, Philip Tomasino, Erik Karlsson

Although there is still some room to climb with their overall numbers - the Penguins sit 12th overall in the league at 23.1 percent - Sullivan likes the overall body of work from his power play this season.

"I think they've made a signficant difference," Sullivan said. "What I like about it is that we're scoring goals, and we're not giving up any. Quite honestly, that's the difference. For me, the biggest thing is just in the process and how they're going about it. The players that have been on it have done a good job."