ANAHEIM, Calif. — One of the biggest reasons the Penguins have looked like the Penguins of the past two years — that is, the team that won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles — is the amount of speed they’ve been able to play with.
“We’re just playing fast,” Sidney Crosby said. “We’re hungry. We’re winning battles for pucks. We’re not spending a lot of time in our own end, which is nice. You don’t want to be spending time in there, it’s way more fun to go the other way and create chances.”
Mike Sullivan pointed specifically to the defensive zone exits, which he said have gotten better over the recent stretch of games. That has allowed them to come through the neutral zone with speed and, as Crosby said, spend more time in front of the opposing goalie.
“I think we’ve been more of a threat off the rush and I think our offensive zone play has been very strong,” Sullivan said. “As I’ve said on a number of occasions since I’ve taken this team over, if we’re going to be the team that we want to become, we have to be able to generate offense different ways . . . whether it be on the power play, whether it be off the rush or whether it be off our own puck-pursuit game by playing behind teams’ defensemen. That’s what I see.”
Letang picking it up
When a reporter suggested that Kris Letang has played some of his best hockey this season over the past few games, Sullivan was quick to agree.
He has a goal and two assists over the previous four games, and has a plus-4 over that stretch.
“I think his game has been really efficient,” Sullivan said. “He’s not trying to do too much. He’s a really talented player. He’s very instinctual and as we say to him all the time, you don’t have to force things. When the plays are there to jump into the rush or jump off the offensive blue line, your hockey sense is going to tell you when those plays are there for you and then you act on them. You don’t have to force them. I think that’s when Tanger is at his best.”
Rolling with the same look
The Penguins lines and defense pairs were the same at practice Tuesday in Anaheim as they have been for the past five games.
They took the trip to California with 12 forwards, 8 defensemen and 3 goalies.
Ian Cole looks likely to be a healthy scratch for the fourth consecutive game Wednesday night against the Ducks.
No update on Murray
Matt Murray was the first player on the ice Tuesday for the Penguins practice, but whether or not he’ll be there at game time Wednesday is apparently still up in the air.
Murray has missed the past two games dealing with what the team called a “personal family matter.” Sullivan said Tuesday there is no update on his status.
“Matt’s just going to be a day-to-day situation,” Sullivan said. “We’ll see how it goes tomorrow and we’ll make decisions day-to-day.”
Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG.
First Published: January 17, 2018, 12:59 a.m.
