Penguins surge under Dan Muse proves Mike Sullivan lost the room

The X post below lays out the punch first, and it is a nasty one for Sullivan. Pittsburgh already matched last year's win total, while goals for jumped from 2.95 to 3.42 and goals against dropped from 3.50 to 2.90.

That kind of swing is not random. Muse was hired on June 4, 2025, to replace Sullivan after Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for a third straight season.

The roster did not suddenly get younger or faster. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are still the spine, but the team now plays with shorter exits, tighter support and far less panic under pressure.

That is the real coaching tell. Pittsburgh attacks with layers now, gets numbers above the puck, and spends less time defending broken plays off bad reads.

Muse also made the blue line cleaner in its decisions. The Penguins are not chasing highlights first, they are getting to the middle, protecting the slot and forcing fewer track meets.

Plenty of Penguins fans feel the same thing now, Sullivan was not a bad coach here, but he had become the wrong coach for this room.

Sullivan still deserves respect for the two Cups, and New York's problems are not all on him. But fit matters, and the Rangers have still looked wildly uneven even during a recent mini-heater.

That is why this story lands. Pittsburgh changed the voice, changed the habits, and changed the results without changing the core truth of the roster.

Now the next game matters even more. If the Penguins keep defending like this, the coaching switch stops looking emotional and starts looking like Kyle Dubas' smartest call.

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