Penguins Pocket book: Letang, Hayes Return to Follow, Staff Focuses On Restoration

After a brutal 3-2 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins have two days to collect their ideas earlier than a troublesome back-to-back tilt towards the Winnipeg Jets and the Utah Hockey Membership on Friday and Saturday.

And it seems they’re going to have one in every of their high defensemen again for these video games.

Defenseman Kris Letang skated in a full capability for the Penguins this morning, as did ahead Kevin Hayes. While Hayes was not available for comment today, Letang stated he is able to assist the group get again within the win column.

“You simply need to be on the market,” Letang stated. “You simply need to be on the market and attempt to assist this group win, and clearly, you may solely watch and say what you assume and what you see from on high, however I do know these guys are battling exhausting. It is irritating that you just play so many good minutes in a recreation, and there is a couple let down, and also you get on the incorrect aspect of it, so that is what we now have to right.”

Watching from afar, Letang believes that every part boils right down to consistency for this group – each for people and for the squad as a collective.

“I believe, it is, for essentially the most half, an issue of particular person, and I believe it is translated into group efficiency,” Letang stated. “[On Tuesday], I believe we performed two good durations, we let go one, and it is sufficient to lose you the sport. Vancouver, we performed 55 good minutes, we let down 5 minutes. We’ve to have the ability to maintain 60 minutes of play and do it night time in and night time out, and we’re not doing that proper now.”

The Penguins gave the impression to be steering the ship in the precise route after a statement win against the red-hot Washington Capitals on Nov. 8. Then, every part went downhill once more.

They had been dealt an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Nov. 11, adopted by a disppointing however impressed 3-2 time beyond regulation loss to Detroit. They then dropped a foul loss to Columbus on Friday, they usually blew a 3-0 lead towards the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, regardless of getting the shootout win.

The Tampa Bay recreation was simply the icing on the cake of a irritating begin to the season for Pittsburgh. The primary 40 minutes regarded very like the Washington recreation with the Penguins dictating the tempo and controlling possession towards group, solely to fold within the third interval and lose a degree they need to have been capable of seize.

“You have to play the sport a sure method each shift, and you have to have a sure mindset each shift,” head coach Mike Sullivan stated after Wednesday’s apply. “And  you may’t let momentum swings have an effect on our capacity to exit and play on our toes. I believe that is an essential facet of attempting to get completely different outcomes. We have been a group that has fallen sufferer to momentum swings, and we have not essentially responded the precise technique to them.”

Perhaps a little bit of it’s within the personnel on the ice, however quite a lot of it simply comes right down to a damaged mentality. Letang believes that they’ve the personnel within the room to get the job finished, and he thinks these guys are able to turning a nook.

“I simply belief the personnel we now have, the blokes that I’ve received with previously, and guys that I’ve seen play,” Letang stated. “The way in which they play, they’ve an edge to their recreation. And like I stated, it is simply consistency. That is simply they key. It does not matter what sort of recreation plan, it’s important to execute it for 60 minutes. That is the important thing. Each plan that is executed for 60 minutes will probably be profitable in the long term.”

Another notes from apply:

– Though there weren’t a complete lot of faces at apply on Wednesday, Sullivan harassed that it wasn’t optionally available. Everybody that was on the ice was there based mostly on minutes and workload, and the blokes who had an even bigger workload got a restoration day.

For the reason that Penguins have two consecutive days off in an in any other case busy schedule, they need to make sure that they’re making the most of that.

“We’re taking part in three video games in 5 nights,” Sullivan stated. “We have not had too many alternatives the place we now have two days between video games, so we’re attempting to maximise that chance to get well.”

– Members at apply included Hayes, Michael Bunting, Matt Nieto, Vasily Ponomarev, Sam Poulin, Jesse Puljujarvi, Valtteri Puustinen, Letang, Ryan Graves, Owen Pickering, Ryan Shea, Jack St. Ivany, Tristan Jarry (for half of apply), and Alex Nedeljkovic.

– Owen Pickering took a jab at teammate Cody Glass in the present day when requested about hockey idols from Winnipeg rising up:

Pickering is a good interview, and he is received a fairly good humorousness. A bit about him rising up in Winnipeg in the course of the NHL revival of the Jets’ franchise is within the works.