Pittsburgh Hockey Insider has no direct affiliation to the Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL or NHLPA
Dan Muse discusses the keys to getting the Penguins back on track after downward spiral before holiday break
Photo credit: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Penguins have fallen back to earth in a major way with nine losses in 10 games, and coach Dan Muse is discussing how they can get back on track now that the schedule is set to resume after the Christmas break.
It was not a good December for the Penguins leading up to the Christmas break, as they lost nine of 10 games, including six straight on home ice, making for the worst home stand in team history.
The Penguins have the chance to pick up a badly needed victory tomorrow when they play the Chicago Blackhawks, another team that has been struggling, at United Center in the Windy City.
Penguins head coach Dan Muse, who is in his first year behind the bench after being hired in the summer to replace the fired Mike Sullivan, he recently talked about how his team can right the ship after such a brutal stretch.
The scoring chances we're giving up right now are too loud, you know? Multiple breakaways against. We can control that. The odd man rushes. That's something that we can control, and we can do a better job of preventing.
And then when it is time to defend within our structure, I think making sure that we're doing it with some detail-so that can be cleaned up. And so I think that's the starting point.
I think, if you go back over this little stretch, I think we played a faster game in the past, too-just in our transition and the way we break out and we move up ice, and we got away from that, especially in the last couple. So I think that's an area that we can improve as well. - Dan Muse
And then when it is time to defend within our structure, I think making sure that we're doing it with some detail-so that can be cleaned up. And so I think that's the starting point.
I think, if you go back over this little stretch, I think we played a faster game in the past, too-just in our transition and the way we break out and we move up ice, and we got away from that, especially in the last couple. So I think that's an area that we can improve as well. - Dan Muse
Dan Muse Was Hired By Penguins GM Kyle Dubas Over The Summer
After missing the playoffs for the third straight year, which is the longest drought in the careers of longtime Penguins Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, GM Kyle Dubas decided to make a big change in leadership.
He terminated Mike Sullivan, who had been on the job for nearly 10 years, and hired former New York Rangers assistant Dan Muse in his place.
Under Muse, the Penguins got off to a much better start than almost anyone would have predicted, but they have cooled off considerably since then.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 27 | 100 ANSWERS Dan Muse discusses the keys to getting the Penguins back on track after downward spiral before holiday break Can the Penguins break out of their funk tomorrow against Chicago? | ||
| Yes | 75 | 75 % |
| No | 25 | 25 % |
| List of polls | ||