Sullivan sees 'hard-fought battle' from Habs

Twenty-four teams are scheduled to be involved when NHL games resume this summer.

Twenty-three of them finished the regular season that was truncated because of the coronavirus pandemic with a winning record.

And then there is the Penguins' opponent in the best-of-five qualifying round that will determine the final five entrants in the official 16-team Stanley Cup playoff field.

That would be Montreal, which went 31-31-9 and ended up 12th in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens finished with 71 points, a full 15 fewer than the Penguins, and seemingly should serve as little more than a dress rehearsal for what the Penguins hope will be a long playoff run.

But Mike Sullivan has been around the game long enough to appreciate that playoff results are pockmarked with upsets every year, and that the best way to witness one starts with looking past the opponent before you and focusing instead on what figures to follow.

And so it is that, as Sullivan and his staff have begun preparations for the play-in round, they are approaching the Canadiens as a clear and present threat to end the Penguins' season before it gets started. Or restarted, to be precise.

It's not that he likens this Montreal club to the ones that, say, made a parade down Rue Ste.-Catherine an annual event in the late 1970s -- to say nothing of various other points in the history of the NHL's most celebrated and successful franchise -- but Sullivan does respect that the Canadiens are a legitimate threat to win a series against almost any team.

Specifically, his.

"They're a talented team," Sullivan said. "We know it's going to be a hard-fought battle, as it always is, regardless of who your opponent is. We're just going to have to be prepared to put our best game on the ice."

And, at the same time, to prevent Montreal from doing likewise.

That begins with trying to limit the effectiveness of goalie Carey Price, the Canadiens' cornerstone.

If they are to spend enough time in their hub city to cobble together a list of favorite restaurants, Price will have to perform at -- or, maybe, above -- the rarefied level he has reached at various points in his career.

Whether the Penguins will develop a personalized strategy for tormenting Price isn't clear, but at the very least, they will emphasize the basics that apply against pretty much every goaltender.

"We have a lot of respect for Price," Sullivan said. "He's a very good goalie. We're just going to have to make sure we make it hard on the goaltender. We have that conversation every time we lace our skates up and play an opponent.

"There are a lot of good goalies in this league. We have to make it hard on them by getting traffic in front, by getting pucks to the net, by getting people to the net, by trying to limit his sight lines and things of that nature."

Price went 1-1-1 against the Penguins in 2019-20, with a 2.32 goals-against average and .929 save percentage. That put his regular-season career stats against them at 13-14-5, 2.95 and .916.

If Price and his teammates can limit the Penguins to fewer than three goals per game, Montreal's prospects of reaching the round of 16 could be significantly enhanced. In fact, that kind of stinginess probably isn't optional, since the Canadiens have scored an average of just 2,99 goals per game in 2019-20.

But even though Montreal lacks a point-per-game player, it does have good overall speed and a strong transition game. Tomas Tatar, who tied Brendan Gallagher for the team lead with 22 goals and led the Canadiens with 61 points, should figure prominently in the Penguins' discussions as they prepare for the series.

"He's one of those guys who (contributes) to their team identity," Sullivan said. "Tatar is a guy who has shown an ability to finish. ... They have a number of guys who can finish and score goals, and Tatar is one of those. He's got good offensive instincts. He's having a good season for them. He's certainly a guy we're going to have to be aware of when he's on the ice."