Penguins' surge under Sullivan comes with simple neutral-zone strategy

To counter the lane-clogging and clutching that opponents used to contain the Penguins' scorers and protect leads, coach Mike Sullivan convinced players to embrace a simple philosophy: Don't get cute with the puck in the neutral zone.

Judging by recent results, there's no reason for the Penguins to question the merits of a chip-and-chase mentality or their abilities to land pucks in the most problematic spaces for opponents.

As Ottawa, Buffalo and a couple of other recent opponents can attest, no early lead — not even a three-goal margin — looks safe against the Penguins. And as playoff-caliber teams such as Washington, Nashville, Detroit and the New York Islanders learned when each gave up five-plus goals to the Penguins in the past three weeks, the strategy encouraged by Sullivan left opponents with little room for error and little hope for rallies.

The Penguins remain the only team in the league not to lose when leading after two periods: they're 38-0-0. But, a testament to the tactics, they also rank first in goals scored when leading (74) and goal differential when leading (plus-31) since Sullivan's debut Dec. 14, according to War-On-Ice.com.

“There are some situations where you're better off not having the puck so that you don't become a high-risk team and leave yourself vulnerable to counter attack,” Sullivan said. “What we've tried to speak with our guys about is recognizing where the opportunity is to create offense.

“When the (puck-carrying) plays are there, we need to make them. If not, we make space plays. We put it behind the defense core. We force teams to play 200 feet. We put them under pressure. And we create offense that way every bit as much as we do when we make plays off the rush.”

After he watched the Penguins plod through the first period of Tuesday's 5-3 comeback win over the Senators, Sullivan sent a message specifically to his second line of Nick Bonino, Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin, the trio best suited to chase down chip-ins and convert them into scoring chances. Sullivan's message involved the need to abandon clever lateral passing in the neutral zone and focus on north-south movement. He gave them just two even-strength shifts as a line in the second period.

Hagelin, Bonino and Kessel responded by forechecking their way into generating the tying and winning goals. Kessel finished with a team-high four shots. Bonino tallied three assists. Hagelin scored two goals.

“We're doing a lot of soft flips behind the defense and letting (Hagelin and Kessel) skate onto pucks,” Bonino said. “We're trying to get them the puck coming over the blue line with some speed. If we can avoid dumps and chips, we do, but if not, then it's got to be a smart dump to get it back.”

The description of a smart dump or chip depends on the circumstances and the intention. Center Sidney Crosby said a line loaded with speed and skill wants the puck where wingers stand the best chance to win foot races and collect it without slowing. Those who prefer to wear down defensemen through physicality want the puck to die in corners.

“Almost like craps, where you land it right in front of the end and kind of let it deaden,” forward Eric Fehr said of his chip-in strategy. “I think the most important thing, especially with the way goalies are playing the pucks, is to keep it out of the trapezoid. Once it gets to the trapezoid, it changes everything.”

There's actually not even a need for two skaters when it comes to a well-executed chip play, winger Bryan Rust noted. Rust's speed allows him to sometimes flick the puck off the sidewalls, race around a defenseman and get the puck himself. But he also recognizes blue-liners in the NHL aren't foolish enough to fall for that trick regularly.

“You can't get too cute with it, where you're just trying to barely get it by him,” Rust said. “Up here (in the NHL), defensemen have better gaps, they're better skaters, and they think the game better, so it's hard to have that space and time where you can make the (carry) plays. Your ability to use smart dump-ins is kind of crucial.”

Buffalo coach Dan Bylsma, who masterminded a similar strategic reconfiguration to lead the Penguins to a Stanley Cup title in 2008-09, left Consol Energy Center a little spellbound by the Sullivan-endorsed strategy after his Sabres squandered a three-goal, first-period lead in their 5-4 shootout loss March 29.

“The length of (ice) which they're playing is difficult to handle,” Bylsma said. “The first period, you saw four instances where their speed was out high and gone (during transition). They sent pucks out but didn't connect. It's a formidable situation to be dealing with.

“Then you look at a situation late in the game where they make the long play in the middle and pass back to speed. Now you have speed coming at you in Kris Letang.

“It's dangerous in a couple different ways, and I think that's really the hard part about dealing with how they are playing.”

Bill West is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at wwest@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BWest_Trib.