Sprong earns promotion to Crosby’s line
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Penguins haven’t been a terribly exciting offensive team of late.
Daniel Sprong has been an exception.
In two games, Sprong has appeared to fit quite well in the NHL, so much so that Penguins coach Mike Sullivan gave Sprong a promotion for a game Friday night against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center, having him start on a line with Sidney Crosby.
“We think Daniel’s had a couple of good games for us,” Sullivan said. “He’s had some quality scoring chances in the games that he’s played. He’s played for the most part apretty solid two-way game.” The numbers don’t lie. It’s only been three games, but Sprong’s measurables have been very good. He’s also passed the eye test with flying colors.
Before Friday, Sprong had been on the ice for 24 scoring chances for five-on-five play compared to just nine against. His high-danger chances had an 8-2 tilt, while he was contributing to a five-on-five puck-possession rate of61.76 percent.
It seems to be only a matter of time before one of Sprong’s deadly shots finds the back of the net. His twoway play — the thing that held Sprong back — has also checked out.
“He’s really worked hard in his overall game,” Sullivan said of Sprong. “Obviously he has the ability to score some goals. When he has the chance to shoot the puck, we’re encouraging him to shoot it. But certainly we just want him to keep his game simple and take what the game gives him out there.”
Sullivan’s other lineup tweaks included separating Malkin and Phil Kessel. Malkin started the game with Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist, while Kessel was on a line with Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary. On defense, Sullivan reunited Olli Maatta and Kris Letang as the team’s top pairing, bumping Matt Hunwick down next to Jamie Oleksiak.
No Letang issues
The Penguins certainly asked Kris Letang to think more this season. Not to change his game or do anything drastic, but more to recognize certain situations and identify which ones aren’t worth pursuing. Letang was a team-worst minus-16 before Friday and has admitted this hasn’t been the season start he wanted. Linking the two, however, isn’t something Sullivan is ready to do.
“What we’re asking Kris to do is just take what the game gives him and play an efficient game,” Sullivan said. “When he does that, we think he’s at his best.
“When the plays are there to jump into the offense or jump into the attack, we’d like him to do that. I think that’s what separates him fromothers.”
Back-to-back uptick
Tristan Jarry started in goal for the Penguins.
It’s been a more than a month since their previous set of back-to-back games, but you may remember that they actually have improved quite a bit with those. After starting 2-4-2, they had gone 2-0-2 over their past four — before Friday — with Jarry in goal for all of them.
“I think a lot of it’s mindset,” Sullivan said of his team’s performance in backto-backs. “I think a lot of it is a preparedness and a willingness to play the game the rightway and become hard to play against. I think the players deserve a lot of credit for the results that we’ve got back-to-backas of late.”
Speaking of Jarry, his three games before Friday had been really good. Although he went just 1-2, he had a 1.58 goals-against average with a .948 save percentage.
Explaining forward depth
The Penguins currently have 12 forwards on their roster — not 13, as has been the case for pretty much the entire season. Injuries have forced Bryan Rust and Carter Rowney out of the lineup, but the Penguins haven’t called up, say, Teddy Blueger, Adam Johnson, Zach Aston-Reese or even Greg McKegg.
Dumoulin same
Sullivan said Brian Dumoulin remains in concussion protocol. He missed his second consecutive game Friday after he was hit in the head with a puck earlier in theweek.