Mike Sullivan said his Penguins "defended hard" in beating the Bruins, 2-1, here Friday night.
"Give Boston credit: They pushed down the stretch," Sullivan said. "The six-on-five, they had a couple looks. We got a couple big saves, and we got some huge blocked shots from a number of guys in the last couple minutes. But that's the cost of winning. There's a price to play to win."
While Sullivan didn't cite specifics, the two that stood out came from two guys who don't often make any defensive highlights: Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson.
Late in the third, Tristan Jarry slid out of his crease and left the net-front wide open. Letang darted across to make a sliding save to bail Jarry out:
Kris Letang with the sliding save to preserve Pittsburgh's lead! ๐ซก
Karlsson's deployment was primarily in the offensive zone, with 85.71% of his faceoffs occurring in the Boston end. Even so, his results were great at five-on-five: 33-13 shot attempts (71.74%), 20-6 shots on goal (76.92%) and 11-3 high-danger shot attempts (78.57%). He was on the ice for both Pittsburgh goals and not for Boston's.
Mike Sullivan said the Penguins are "without a doubt" seeing the Karlsson they want.
"I think his last two games might have been his best two of the year on both sides of the puck," Sullivan said. "We used him in six-on-five down the stretch. We thought he was defending hard. He's so good with the puck, and he skates so well. He has the ability to close on people. He's a lot like Kris in that regard. Tanger's the same way. They anticipate well, they get on top of people, and they use their stick skills and their brains to win pucks and defend that way. And I think Karl's making a concerted effort there on both sides of the puck."
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
11:27 pm - 11.29.2024BostonDrive to the Net: Letang, Karlsson defend hard
Mike Sullivan said his Penguins "defended hard" in beating the Bruins, 2-1, here Friday night.
"Give Boston credit: They pushed down the stretch," Sullivan said. "The six-on-five, they had a couple looks. We got a couple big saves, and we got some huge blocked shots from a number of guys in the last couple minutes. But that's the cost of winning. There's a price to play to win."
While Sullivan didn't cite specifics, the two that stood out came from two guys who don't often make any defensive highlights: Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson.
Late in the third, Tristan Jarry slid out of his crease and left the net-front wide open. Letang darted across to make a sliding save to bail Jarry out:
With less than three minutes left, Karlsson blocked a shot and tied up Morgan Geekie:
Karlsson's deployment was primarily in the offensive zone, with 85.71% of his faceoffs occurring in the Boston end. Even so, his results were great at five-on-five: 33-13 shot attempts (71.74%), 20-6 shots on goal (76.92%) and 11-3 high-danger shot attempts (78.57%). He was on the ice for both Pittsburgh goals and not for Boston's.
Mike Sullivan said the Penguins are "without a doubt" seeing the Karlsson they want.
"I think his last two games might have been his best two of the year on both sides of the puck," Sullivan said. "We used him in six-on-five down the stretch. We thought he was defending hard. He's so good with the puck, and he skates so well. He has the ability to close on people. He's a lot like Kris in that regard. Tanger's the same way. They anticipate well, they get on top of people, and they use their stick skills and their brains to win pucks and defend that way. And I think Karl's making a concerted effort there on both sides of the puck."
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