New York. Did he turn to Pittsburgh now?
They picked up their second straight win in a single day last night – by crushing Tampa themselves 7-3.
– When we have the right attitude, the rest will take care of themselves, says trainer Mike Sullivan.
Just a few days ago, it looked like the season was slipping out of the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. They were thrashed by Edmonton 7-2 on home ice, booed by fans – and the local media was ready for a pitchfork.
The response was an overtime victory against the Blues in St. Louis. Louis last Saturday and last night, just one day later, they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 at home in PPG Paints.
So they’re now back in last place in the Eastern Conference standings – with plenty of games to spare for rivals New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers.
– We work hard for the players to have the right mental attitude and when they have it, like tonight, the rest comes by itself, said coach Mike Sullivan in his press conference after the final whistle.
– We can certainly build on this.
Swedish defender Markus Petersson had another great game, contributing two assists.
For the visitors, Nikita Kucherov reached 700 points with a goal at the end of the first half.
“It’s quite an achievement to play in just over 600 games,” said coach John Cooper, who was dissatisfied.
The Buffalo Sabers are also joining the race.
They lost both Rasmus Dahlen and Alex Tosh on Sunday at home at the Keybank Center due to injuries (not too serious) but managed to beat Washington 7-4.
So they park in the spot just below the line, one point less than Pittsburgh – but also with one less game to play and what Fewer New York Islanders in the first wild card spot.
“It was a big match and everyone stepped up,” says archery king Tyg Thompson.
Which this time, however, was bested by “Guilt” Dylan Cousins for the first hat-trick of his NHL career.
For Washington, the loss in Buffalo was a heavy blow. Some hopes were rekindled when they beat the New York Rangers on Saturday, but they were suddenly extinguished again.
Our effort is simply not enough. You’re not going anywhere if you’re this uneven, sighs veteran TJ O’Shea.
Matthias Samuelsson got an assist for the Sabers and Erik Gustafsson for the Capitals
Like I said, the New York Islanders have a lot more games played than most in the Eastern Conference race – 63 to 58, for example in Buffalo – but they still took advantage of the situation and beat Winnipeg 4-0 on the road last night.
– I was very hungry to play today, so I had no problem staying sharp, says goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov after his second clean sheet of the season.
For Winnipeg, things are starting to come together a bit. The loss last night was the third in a row, and so they slide into the wild card quagmire of the Western table.
The Seattle Kraken ended up there as well after several consecutive losses. The third came against the Toronto Maple Leafs at home at Climate Pledge Arena last night. The guests from the other side of the continent won 5-1. Defenseman Timothy Liljegren scored one goal and even played one goal, while William Nylander had two assists.
One team trying to catch the Kraken and Jets is the Nashville Predators and they did what they had to do last night, beating the Coyotes 6-2 in the Arizona desert.
But they are still six points ahead – admittedly, fewer matches have been played than their rivals, but still – and the club’s management is just starting to sell key players. So there is not much to suggest that they will.
The situation was a little brighter for Minnesota, which moved up to second place in the midfield table with a 3-2 win over Columbus on Sunday.
They unexpectedly found themselves down 2-0 going into the third period at the Excel Energy Center, but then Kiril Kaprizov took charge of the show. He slashed and tied the last 20 – then completed the triple in overtime.
– It’s the best game I’ve seen Kaprizov play, says coach Dean Evason.
Joel Ericsson assisted Eke on one of the champions’ goals and Emil Bimström provided the assist for the visitors.