'Urgent' care: Penguins show they understand reality of their situation coming out of break

The word “urgency” has become quite popular in recent weeks around the Pittsburgh sports scene. Steelers owner Art Rooney II said his franchise is starting to feel that sense when it comes to ending its seven-year drought without a playoff win.

When we will see evidence of that urgency from his organization is … hmmm … still to be determined.

We’ve also heard the word “urgency” tossed around a great deal from fans and media members relating to the Penguins. Given that the team is beyond the halfway point of the season and ended the All-Star break seven points out of a playoff spot, you can understand why.

At least for them, in Game 1 out of their nine-day break, you could see some signs of that urgency beginning to simmer.

“That was something we acknowledged and knew we needed,” winger Bryan Rust said after a 3-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets at PPG Paints Arena Tuesday night.

“I thought we were good,” Rust said. “We played with that urgency all night long. First game out of the break, there was some sloppiness at times. Not totally unexpected. If we just clean up those little areas, we’ll be good.”

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From his view in the crease, goaltender Tristan Jarry could see a rededicated edge manifesting in a number of ways.

“We were blocking shots. Guys were getting back,” Jarry said. “When we are conscientious with the puck, we play a really good game. We are hard to get offense against. The guys did a great job defending in front of the net.”

As a result of those efforts, Jarry had to face only 23 shots en route to his league-leading sixth shutout.

“What we did well was playing well without the puck,” forward Lars Eller said. “We didn’t give them a lot. We stayed on the right side defensively. We didn’t give any odd-man rushes. When we did get a power play we took advantage of it. What we did tonight is what good teams are able to do.”

Perhaps a sense of overwhelming need for precision, effort and results helped aid the Penguins’ notoriously underachieving power play as well. It popped in two second-period goals, one from Rust and another from Jeff Carter.

BIG JEFF CARTER WITH A BIG POWER-PLAY GOAL! pic.twitter.com/6OaYqi4GYF

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 7, 2024

Count it! That's two power-play goals tonight! ???????? pic.twitter.com/hBao69go26

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 7, 2024

“Both units did a good job. They had some good looks,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “They were not forcing plays that weren’t there. They were taking what was given. We had a net presence. But we had sticks in the right areas where we could contest any rebound. Positionally, we were in the right spots. They executed. Those two power-play goals were a big part of the game.”

As the Penguins resumed play after the break Tuesday, they had completed only 46 games, the fewest in the Eastern Conference. So their efforts to make up ground in the standings should be aided by the fact that they have more points on the table to get.

As Jake Guentzel said, though, “Games in hand are only worth something when you win them.”

That’s as old of a sports cliche as you can find, mainly because it’s just math. And common sense. But at least, according to Sullivan, it’s a point the coaching staff had been drilling into the heads of the players coming out of the break anyway.

“It’s important that we stay in the moment, we don’t get ahead of ourselves, and we focus on the one game at hand. That one right in front of us,” Sullivan said. “But it’s also important that we understand where we’re at and that we know what the big picture is so that we have a certain perspective on where we’re going to go.

“We’ve had that discussion about where we sit in the standings and if we’re going to ultimately make the playoffs and give ourselves an opportunity to contend for a Stanley Cup. We have to bring a certain level of urgency to our game now. And we can’t let any opportunity slip by.”

For one game, maybe that conversation resonated. Retaining that urgency for the final 35 games of the year will be a significantly bigger challenge.