The Pittsburgh Penguins have the same record as the Arizona Coyotes thirty five games into the 2015-16 NHL season. 17-15-3. Let that sink in for a minute.
Despite the gains being shown in possession and the obvious increase in buy-in from the team, the results are still not coming in the Mike Sullivan era. The product looks better on-ice, and the numbers tell us that several of the Pens key players will not continue shooting at abysmally low rates forever…
…but the team has reached the midway point of the season and it’s starting to turn from “bad start” to gut check time.