Mike Sullivan is in his tenth season as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. In his ten years behind the Penguins bench, he has six playoff appearances and two Stanley Cup trophies. In his coaching tenure with the Penguins, he has a record of 678-378-223. Sullivan is currently the longest tenured head coach in the league behind Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Coaching for ten seasons and not making the playoffs the last two seasons, there is a lot of pressure on Sullivan to step up or he will be replaced. The Penguins have also not gotten past the first round since 2018. If they fail to make the playoffs this season, expect Sullivan to get fired.
Generally, Sullivan as part of his coaching philosophy does not change the lines up significantly unless injuries arise. He also generally does not like using prospects. However, this year is a very important year for him so he has not been afraid to do both. One of the more shocking moves Sullivan made at the beginning of the season was calling up rookie Rutger McGroarty and allowing him to play. However, McGroarty only played in three games and failed to register a point before being sent down. Penguins fans were surprised and happy to see McGroarty get a shot as well as Sullivan understanding the pressure on this season and changing his ways. But has it been too much?
Splitting Up What Works
So far this season, the Penguins line of Noel Acciari–Cody Glass–Kevin Hayes line statistically has been the Penguins best line in expected goals percentage. In that category, they ranked ninth in the league with an expected goals percentage of 66.7%. However for some reason, Sullivan decided to split up that line in a Sunday afternoon contest with the Winnipeg Jets.
For some reason, Sullivan moved Acciari to fourth line centre, Glass to the third line right wing, and Hayes to fourth line left wing. This did not make any sense to break up one of the better lines for the Penguins this season. Also, Acciari statistically last season played his worst hockey as a centre so it made no sense to make him play where he previously struggled.
The lines being switched hurt the Penguins in their 6-3 loss to the Jets and it was evident. Acciari had just one shot. The Penguins continue their west coast trip Tuesday night with a contest against the Calgary Flames. Sullivan better bring back the Acciari-Glass-Hayes line for that game and realize his experiment did not work.
Surprising Healthy Scratches
Surprisingly, Michael Bunting was a healthy scratch for that game against the Jets. Bunting was acquired at the trade deadline as part of the blockbuster Jake Guentzel trade with the Carolina Hurricanes. Bunting finished that season strong for the Penguins logging 19 points in 21 games.
However, this season so far he is struggling as he has just one point in six games. Bunting should not be scratched for long, but hopefully this was a wake up call and he starts to play better. Perhaps a way to get Bunting going again offensively is let him play alongside Sidney Crosby on the top line.
Another surprising scratch was goaltender Tristan Jarry. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic returned from injured reserve and started in the loss. Rookie goaltender Joel Blomqvist was the backup meaning Jarry did not dress and was the odd man out. Jarry so far, has been having an abysmal season as he has just one win in three appearances. He also has a goals against average of 5.87 and a save percentage of .836. Hopefully similarly to Bunting, this scratch can be a mental wake up call and reset and he plays better.
Sullivan needs to figure out the lines and roster management and snap this two game losing streak.
Main Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
