Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan speechless in interview after another loss
The Penguins haven't been at their best early in the new season, and after another loss, Head Coach Mike Sullivan struggled to put their failure into words.
This season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have started off slow, posting a 1-2-0 mark at home as well as an 0-2-0 record against Metropolitan Division rivals, and given that they are looking to break a two year Stanley Cup Playoffs drought, neither of those numbers are ideal. On Friday, the team once again fell to the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 4-1, and after the game, Head Coach Mike Sullivan tried to put his frustrations into words.
"We probably played 3 games that don't live up to our expectations, let's just say it that way," said Sullivan. "We have to have higher expectations of ourselves."
Given the roster that this team has, they should be playing at a very high level every night with both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby still thriving, but unfortunately they've struggled to find that consistency early on. Sullivan wasn't alone in being frustrated however, as forward Lars Eller condemned the way that his team played, mapping out where they need to be better if they want to find sustained success.
"I think we did it to ourselves," said Eller. "I think our lack of energy, will, winning pucks, execution was all missing today."
The Pittsburgh Penguins next four games come on the road in Canada against Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, so things clearly aren't getting much easier for the team, with these being the tough road trips that could eventually define their season. At 3-3-0, the Penguins season certainly isn't lost, as few teams in the East are separating themselves early in the year, but if they want to give Crosby, Malkin, Kris Letang and this team a chance at another Stanley Cup, they need to improve on a nightly basis moving forward.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 19 | 335 ANSWERS Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan speechless in interview after another loss Will the Pittsburgh Penguins make a Stanley Cup Playoffs run after two years of missing out? | ||
| Yes | 70 | 20.9 % |
| No | 265 | 79.1 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Connor McDavid | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Artemi Panarin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Evan Bouchard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||