Penguins get physical
Smaller team with very few large thumpers can still pack a punch.
TAMPA, Fla. — The Penguins might have arrived in Florida with a few extra minor bumps and bruises following the Sunday game against the heavy-hitting Washington Capitals. But they also landed here with a huge, 4-3 win, having stood up to the Capitals without letting their longtime rivals get them off their game.
“Since I’ve been the coach here, there’s been a lot of teams that try to utilize those physical tactics to beat our team,” Mike Sullivan said Monday. “It’s not anything that our guys aren’t accustomed to, especially the core guys.”
The Capitals were credited with 47 hits, including a career-high 13 from Tom Wilson. There were 13 penalties between the two teams, including one assessed to Capitals forward Lars Eller for hitting Patric Hornqvist from behind long after the puck went by. Hornqvist was shaken up but stayed in the game.
There was also a play where Sidney Crosby, sitting on the bench, suddenly felt T.J. Oshie’s stick in his midsection. Crosby, who jostled back at the Capitals forward from the bench while grimacing in pain, got called for holding his stick.
“It’s hockey. That’s their identity, ” Sullivan said of Washington’s antics.
Sullivan was pleased with how the Penguins responded to them, though he would have been even happier had they responded with a goal on any of their seven power plays. They also held up well earlier this season against the big, bad Boston Bruins, who are second in the conference behind the Capitals.
“We’ve just got to make sure we play our game and don’t get caught up playing somebody else’s,” he said. “I thought we had plenty of pushback. We’ve got a team that plays with a lot of courage. We’re going to take hits to make plays.”
The Penguins aren’t the biggest team, but they are willing to throw around the weight they do have. Brandon Tanev, their 180-pound winger, is the embodiment of that. Entering Monday, they were averaging 28.04 hits per game, second in the NHL. The New York Islanders, another possible playoff opponent, are first.
No wonder defenseman Jack Johnson, second on the Penguins in hits behind Tanev, shrugged when asked how he thought they handled the Capitals’ heavy hitters.
“It was fine. It’s a contact sport,” the blue-liner said.
“You’re supposed to hit.”
Two stay home
The Penguins took injured players Dominik Kahun, Nick Bjugstad, Jake Guentzel and Brian Dumoulin to Washington. for the game Sunday, but all four returned to Pittsburgh instead of accompanying the team on its week-long trip to Florida. Given their respective situations, it is notable that Kahun and Bjugstad stayed home.
Kahun has missed the past three games after suffering a concussion Jan. 19. He was spotted skating on an individual basis Thursday and Friday, which Sullivan felt was a positive sign. But Kahun remains in the concussion protocol.
Bjugstad had surgery to repair a core muscle about 11 weeks ago and had been skating on an individual basis last month, even joining the Penguins for their trip to Vegas, Colorado and Arizona.
Last week, Sullivan said Bjugstad was only doing office workouts but that he “hasn’t had a setback, per se.”
Rust misses practice
Bryan Rust, who leads the Penguins with 22 goals, did not practice Monday at the Tampa Bay Lightning’s training facility.
Before practice, Rust took a twirl around the ice without most of his equipment as Penguins head athletic trainer Chris Stewart looked on.
After a couple of minutes, Rust left the ice. He was riding an exercise bike when practice began.
Sullivan said the team gave Rust a “maintenance day.”
With Rust sitting out, Alex Galchenyuk was the one picked to skate with Evgeni Malkin and Hornqvist.
Special circumstances
The Penguins remained in Washington. overnight after beating the Capitals Sunday so that players and coaches could watch the Super Bowl. They headed to Florida Monday morning. With three days before their next game Thursday against the Lightning, Sullivan used much of the Monday practice to work on less common situations.
In addition to about 15 minutes of special-teams drills, the Penguins simulated 3-on-3 overtime and pulling the goalie for a 6-on-5 late in the game.
The players also practiced their shootout moves before the afternoon’s final whistle.