Key Takeaways from Penguins 5-2 Win over Toronto

— Maybe after all Mike Sullivan still knows how to push the right buttons with this group? After his calculated hard stance after Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Rangers, Pittsburgh responded with arguably their most complete performance of the season, from the standpoint of excelling in areas they are often so below-the-line like puck battles, wall play, ect.

“What a difference a day makes,” Sullivan said. I thought we were a different team tonight from the drop of the puck. It might have been the most complete game that we played all year from start to finish. A lot of it for me was having the right intentions, a willingness and a commitment to play the game the right way and doing the mundane or the ordinary things really well consistently the shift in and shift out.”

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— Why there was a lot of ‘best performance of the season’ talk in the room came back to the Penguins play in the third period. Pittsburgh did not sit back against a team that skill wise could get them running around. The Penguins kept pushing the play.

13-10 advantage in shots, 12-6 advantage in scoring chances and key number here from the Penguins was a 6-4 edge in high danger chances in the third period and all six high danger chances in the third came 5 vs 5.

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More Buzz

–Tristan Jarry four straight wins and the Penguins have wanted someone to take the reins as the number 1 goaltender and Jarry being the guy continues to be the best-case scenario for the Penguins in the short and long-term this season. The coaching staff has deservedly taken a lot of heat this season, but Sullivan and his staff deserve some credit too for Jarry’s turnaround. Over last little while they started treating Jarry like the #1 in giving him starts you give your #1 and that can’t be understated for a player where a lot of issues is between the ears.

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— Jarry’s re-emergence brings back the questionable decision to give Alex Nedeljkovic a two year contract in the summer when you had Joel Blomqvist waiting in the wings for NHL time. Kyle Dubas put zero stock in the Penguins hot run last spring except when it came to a decision on Nedeljkovic who went on a heater with wins and losses. The Penguins put Nedeljkovic’s out there in trade talks last month, targeting teams with goaltender injuries, and an issue has been the contract with teams not To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! 2/3 of NHL owners are very stringent towards their AHL books.

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— A rare post-game of giving the coaching staff their accolades? The separate power play units worked for one night in giving different looks. Rarely can it work as a long-term thing but maybe the Penguins found something they can introduce here and there. Problem is once something works one game, the staff tries pushing it too much and it becomes stale. To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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