Mike Sullivan Returns to Pittsburgh, Faces Familiar Faces and a Familiar Challenge
PITTSBURGH - Mike Sullivan has spent over a decade behind the Penguins’ bench, helping shape a core that brought two Stanley Cups back to Pittsburgh. But Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena, the view was unfamiliar - Sullivan stood behind the visitors’ bench, coaching a Rangers team in the middle of a full-blown retool while watching his old squad celebrate the glory days and still show flashes of why they’ve remained relevant for so long.
The Penguins, under interim coach Dan Muse, pulled out a 6-5 win over the Rangers, extending their lead over Sullivan’s new club to 17 points in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh remains well-positioned in the playoff hunt, while the Rangers are staring down a long road ahead.
And yet, watching Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang - all pushing 40, all still producing - Sullivan couldn’t help but admire what he once had.
“The core guys that have been here as long as they have, they're a unique group,” Sullivan said postgame. “And although they are aging, there’s still elite-level play in their game.
And you know, it's driven by Sid, their captain. And so it doesn't surprise me.”
That trio has been the heartbeat of the Penguins for nearly two decades. And on a night when the franchise honored the 10-year anniversary of its 2016 Stanley Cup run - a team coached by Sullivan - the nostalgia was thick. Before puck drop, Sullivan looked like he might leap over the boards to join the celebration.
“It’s a proud moment for me,” he said. “I was really happy to get a chance to see some of those guys that I was fortunate enough to win a Stanley Cup with.
That group of players deserves to be celebrated. They were a great team...
It was a privilege to coach them.”
But once the puck dropped, reality kicked in.
The Rangers, playing without Artemi Panarin for a third straight game as he awaits a trade, once again found themselves chasing the game. Rookie defenseman Scott Morrow turned the puck over early, leading to a goal from Anthony Mantha just 2:37 into the first. Noel Acciari added another minutes later, and by the time the third period ticked down, the Penguins had built a 6-3 lead.
The Rangers made it interesting late - Alexis Lafrenière scored his second of the game with just over a minute to play, and Will Cuylle added another with 11 seconds left, assisted by Lafrenière and Vincent Trocheck. But the comeback came up short.
Trocheck finished with a goal and two assists. Vladislav Gavrikov also found the net. But it wasn’t enough to change the outcome - or the direction this Rangers team is heading.
This is the reality Sullivan finds himself in. The Rangers have already moved defenseman Carson Soucy to the Islanders.
Panarin is next, and others - maybe Trocheck, maybe Braden Schneider - could follow before the March 6 trade deadline. It’s not the situation Sullivan envisioned when he took the job last summer, but it’s the one he’s living in.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sullivan said when asked how he’s handling the transition. “It’s a different challenge.
And so we are where we are, and we’re going to keep digging in here. We’re going to try to rally around one another and control what we can, and we’re going to try to win the game right in front of us.”
There’s no hiding from what this season has become for the Rangers. They sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings (22-28-6), and January was brutal - a 3-10-1 stretch that included injuries to Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox in the same game, effectively ending any hope of staying in the playoff race.
There were a couple of bright spots: a Winter Classic win over Florida in Miami on Jan. 2, and Sullivan’s 500th career coaching victory the next night in Philadelphia. But those moments have been few and far between.
Now, the focus shifts to what’s ahead. One more game before the All-Star break, and then Sullivan will step away briefly to coach Team USA in the Olympics.
He’ll bring along J.T. Miller and Trocheck.
Mika Zibanejad will represent Sweden. When they return, 15 games will remain on the schedule.
The challenge for Sullivan will be keeping this group engaged and motivated through what’s left of a lost season. That’s not easy when the roster is in flux, the stars are sidelined, and the standings offer little hope. But if there’s one thing Sullivan has shown over the years - from Cup runs to coaching milestones - it’s that he knows how to get the most out of his players.
“It’s a different situation,” he said. “I’d be lying if I told you otherwise.
But I think our guys have done a good job in just trying to compartmentalize their emotions. And when the puck drops, trying to do their best to compete and play the game the right way.”
Notes & Quotes:
The Rangers claimed 23-year-old defenseman Vincent Iorio off waivers from San Jose.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound blueliner had three assists in 21 games with the Sharks. To make room, forward Brett Berard was sent back to AHL Hartford.