Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan isn’t buying that winger Phil Kessel is dealing with an injury that is impacting his level of play.

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“I don’t think Phil is banged up more than anybody else,” Mike Sullivan said about Kessel after the Penguins optional practice. “It’s a physical series and everybody has bumps and bruises, I think that’s par for the course at this time of the year.”

Kessel has 2 assists this series and just a goal, 6 assists in 10 playoff games. Kessel had a monster regular season with 34 goals, 92 points in 82 games.

Kessel’s struggles to get pucks off quickly from the left wall on the power play have been an issue but the most problematic areas has been 5-on-5 for Kessel where he’s not getting scoring chances inside the dots.

The star of the past two postseason runs has just three even strength points through 10 games.[/hide]