PITTSBURGH — Given their luck in the first month of the season, of course it came to this.
Already, the Penguins have had to play on through myriad maladies. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were unavailable when the puck dropped on the regular season on Oct. 12. About 30% of the players on their roster contracted COVID. And in total a dozen dudes have now been sidelined for one reason or another.
The Penguins managed to get through their tough October schedule with a 3-3-2 record. The two-time Cup-winner behind the bench had a lot to do with it.
But now they will be without coach Mike Sullivan for at least the next week.
Just three hours before Thursday’s 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers, which was decided when Kris Letang scored on a wraparound in overtime, the Penguins announced that Sullivan would be out indefinitely due to COVID-related protocols. Sullivan tested positive for the virus and is experiencing symptoms.
Assistant Todd Reirden coached the team Thursday at PPG Paints Arena – and could potentially do it for a few more games given that Sullivan is symptomatic.
“Certainly, we [are without] an outstanding coach in Mike Sullivan, and obviously he’ll be missed,” Reirden said. “I just hope the best for him and his family.”
The Penguins are in the midst of another COVID outbreak. Since Sunday, they have placed Crosby and defensemen Brian Dumoulin, Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel on the NHL’s COVID list after they were all confirmed positive.
That made it eight Penguins to get the virus in the past five and a half weeks. One of those players, Kris Letang, did return to the lineup against the Flyers.
“It’s tough. I’m not going to lie. We are trying to do all the right things,” Sullivan said, speaking with a subdued tone, after running Wednesday’s practice. “It’s been a little bit discouraging because I know how disciplined our group is. … We’re trying to do everything we can to mitigate the risk. And yet we’re still getting it.”
Concerned the virus would keep spreading through the team despite all players and coaches being vaccinated, the Penguins canceled Thursday’s morning skate and altered the daily schedule in an effort to limit contact with each other.
And then the Penguins found out that Sullivan was the latest to test positive.
“It’s all happened quite quickly,” Reirden said at a virtual press conference.
And so the Penguins were without their coach for an early-season tilt against their bitter rivals, a Flyers team looking to hand them their fourth straight loss.
“As we work through it here, the focus is going to be on continuing to find some of the hockey that we were playing at the beginning of the year,” Reirden said before the game. “[We have to get] back to some of the things that we were doing well, some of the details and habits that … have slipped a little bit lately.”
It wasn’t pretty, especially not in a second period in which the two teams traded high-danger chances. But the Penguins got back on the right track. And it could be the type of victory that galvanizes them in these difficult circumstances.
Brock McGinn opened the scoring with a no-frills goal 16 seconds in. He lugged the puck into the right corner, whipped it around the boards to Mike Matheson then cut to the net front for a clever deflection past Flyers goalie Carter Hart.
That was the second time in nine games this season that Teddy Blueger’s line took the opening faceoff then scored within the first 20 seconds of the game.
Tristan Jarry was exceptional in the first period, making 17 saves, including a couple of tough ones on Oskar Lindblom. Travis Konecny finally got a shot, Philadelphia’s 22nd of the night, past Jarry in the second. On a power play, the pesky winger made a quick move off the goal line then roofed one over Jarry from in tight.
Just over four minutes later, Jake Guentzel scored to restore the lead. It was just the winger’s second goal of 2021-22. Jeff Carter, playing in his 1,100th career game, helped make it happen by parking his 220-pound frame in front of Hart.
The Flyers had the Penguins on their heels as the third period ticked down. The dam broke with 2:52 left. Matheson coughed up the puck behind his net and it found its way to Scott Laughton. He ripped a one-timer past Jarry’s glove.
In OT, Letang grabbed a loose puck behind Philadelphia’s net and tucked it inside the post. When the officials announced that video review had confirmed the goal, Reirden tucked his notes into his suit pocket and walked down the tunnel toward the dressing room. Needless to say, he’s a little more subdued than Sullivan.
Now, Reirden’s focus will turn to keeping the Penguins on pace in a competitive Metro Division will also doing what he can to mitigate the risks of COVID.
Reirden has experience as an NHL head coach. He led the Washington Capitals for two seasons then was fired and returned to the Penguins in 2020-21. His resume also includes coaching Pittsburgh’s American Hockey League club.
With Sullivan sidelined indefinitely, Reirden said it will still be Sullivan’s message that is delivered to the players. It will just be coming from a different voice.
“We connect on a number of different levels,” Reirden said. “We were really able to have a common vision last year and I learned a ton from him in so many different ways. … We found a really good rapport with one another and we’re really speaking the same language with the message we’re delivering to our team.”
The Penguins host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, the finale of their eight-game homestand. They will then visit the Chicago Blackhawks three days later.
