TORONTO – Friday night’s 5-3 Penguins victory over Ottawa gave coach Mike Sullivan a reminder of the biggest reason for any winning hockey team’s success.
It’s the talent, effort and execution of the players.
He came to that conclusion after watching Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann get off a plane, hustle to the arena, step on the ice minutes before faceoff and fit in seamlessly in their first game with the Penguins despite receiving precious little coaching advice beforehand.
“Sometimes you play your best hockey when you’re just on adrenaline and you let your instincts take over,” Sullivan said Saturday before the Penguins faced the Toronto Maple Leafs. “Those guys did a great job last night. It really is a player’s game. It’s an instinctive sport, especially with the puck. I thought they did a terrific job.”
Regardless of how well Bjugstad and McCann fared, the new players were given a basic briefing on Penguins tactics before Saturday night’s game.
“We’ll give them a rudimentary understanding of how we’re trying to play,” Sullivan said. “As they get the opportunity to be with us longer, we’ll start to add some more of the details.”
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Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.
