The Penguins made a seismic change over the weekend, when Mike Sullivan replaced Mike Johnston as coach.
They wouldn’t mind making a few other significant ones — specifically, to their records at Consol Energy Center and inside the Metropolitan Division — before the NHL’s Christmas break next week.
Four of their next five games will be at home, beginning with a visit tonight from Washington, and three are against Metropolitan opponents, including the Capitals.
The Penguins are a fairly ordinary 8-4-2 at home, and just 1-2-1 inside their division.
“The way the divisions have been set up, and the point system is set up, the division games have even more importance now than they used to,” center Matt Cullen said.
“We have the majority of our division games ahead of us. We have a lot in our control.”
The Penguins’ lone victory against a Metropolitan opponent came Oct. 28 against the Capitals, 3-1, at Verizon Center.
“That first one against Washington was the way we need to play our division games,” center Nick Bonino said.
The Penguins were just 9-17-4 inside the Metropolitan in 2014-15, a major reason they didn’t qualify for the playoffs until the final day of the season.
“Those are big points when you play division games,” goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. “It’s such a tight race to make it into the playoffs at the end. You need to beat those teams. You need to take those points.”
Pouliot progressing well
Sullivan, who coached the Penguins’ American Hockey League affiliate in Willkes-Barre until Saturday, effectively dodged a question about when Baby Penguins defenseman Derrick Pouliot might be summoned to the parent club.
He made it clear, though, that he believes Pouliot is progressing nicely and that, like most young defensemen, his development won’t be stunted by spending time in the minors.
“Derrick has been a big part of the team’s success down there,” Sullivan said. “He’s playing a lot of minutes. Most nights, he plays against the American League’s top players. He’s running the power play. He’s playing in every situation.”
AHL games tend to be less structured than those in the NHL, something Sullivan sees as a plus for Pouliot in the formative stages of his career.
“The American League is a great development league,” he said. “In a lot of aspects, it might be a more difficult league to play in as a defenseman, because the game is more helter-skelter.
“The young players make more mistakes than they do at the National League level. As a defenseman, you have to make reads and adjustments and adjustments based on those circumstances.
“The experience he’s going through down there, the investment in his career, is well worth it.”
Warsofsky gets his chance
Defenseman David Warsofsky has spent most of his pro career in the AHL, so he genuinely appreciates his recent call-up from Wilkes-Barre.
“You obviously want that opportunity,” he said. “You fight your way up in the [AHL]. It’s nice to get some games here. Hopefully, I can stick around.”
Warsofsky does not have a point in five games, but has gotten some power-play work with Kris Letang injured. He played a career-high 24 minutes, 57 seconds in the Penguins’ 3-2 shootout loss Friday to the Los Angeles Kings.
“The coaches are giving me some more playing time and, obviously, playing on the power play. … Just trying to take advantage of the opportunity.”
Seth Rorabaugh contributed to this report. Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG.
First Published: December 14, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
