Mike Sullivan coaches a Pittsburgh Penguins.
Photo credit: Tribune-Review

Mike Sullivan Talks to Media After Penguins Blow Huge Lead Against Avalanche

Published March 24, 2024 at 7:46 PM
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Marvin Azrak
March 24, 2024  (7:46 PM)
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Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said the same thing he's been saying all year and nobody is happy about it.




If you're a Penguins fan, Sunday's game against the Colorado Avalanche probably felt like the whole season. They built a solid 4-0 lead against one of the NHL's elite, only to watch it crumble as the Avalanche stormed back with five unanswered goals to snatch the win in overtime.

That loss was a tough pill for the Pens, especially considering they've been struggling lately, dropping eight of their last ten games. Those playoff hopes are pretty much on thin ice now. They're sitting nine points back of the second wild card spot with just 12 games left, and they'd have to leapfrog four teams to catch the Washed Capitals, who were victorious 3-0 over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday in the nations capital.

Here's what Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said:



Coach Mike Sullivan summed it up:

Thought we competed hard, you know? That's one of the most explosive offenses in the league that we played against. We knew they were going to push back. We competed hard all night.

However, fans weren't having it. One disgruntled supporter said,
Mike Sullivan and his whole coaching staff should be fired immediately after this game. You can't throw away a 4-goal lead with 5 minutes to go in the 2nd period. Terrible. Crosby deserves better.

Even goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, who had a solid showing in the first half of the game, didn't sugarcoat it:

I don't care much about how the first half went. It was a great first half, and then we had a great 36 minutes there. So, you got a good shot and found a lane through the point. It's a good seeing-eye shot. Then they got another one off the crossbar and returned in the middle. I don't know, probably they had four chances on me, and they scored four goals. It's not enough. We played good enough to win that game.

Credit where it's due. It was an entertaining game for hockey fans, especially if you're from Nova Scotia. Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon lit up the scoreboard with four points each.





Yet, it was the Halifax duo of MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin who played hero with the overtime winner.



MacKinnon was on fire, extending his home game point streak to 34 games and solidifying his lead in the Art Ross race with a whopping 122 points.
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March 24   |   133 answers
Mike Sullivan Talks to Media After Penguins Blow Huge Lead Against Avalanche

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