When the NHL released the team schedules for the 2017-18 season, a close inspection of the Pittsburgh Penguins' games revealed a league-high 19 back-to-backs.
With already 8 of them out of the way, and the next one not until the beginning of January, Mike Sullivan's team can finally bank on some rest to turn their season around.
They've already won 4 straight and are now 15-10-3. Things are looking up for a team that has won two consecutive Stanley Cups and had higher expectations attached to them this season. Their more "normal" schedule this month will allow them to hopefully build on their recent successes.
“We've had a lot, and that might take a little bit of a toll, especially on the guys who play bigger minutes,” Bryan Rust explained to TribLIVE's Jerry DiPaola. “Not having that burden for a while, I think guys can stay a little bit more fresh and play a little harder and have a little more success.”
Sullivan added to Rust's words, explaining that the constant back-to-backs has inhibited the team's ability to have productive practices.
“We've gone through a really difficult schedule from a logistics standpoint,” he said. “There hasn't been a whole lot of practice time. Most of the practices have been more recovery skates than they are substantive practices where we're actually trying to get better out there.
“Hopefully, with the schedule spread out a little bit more moving forward, it will give us an opportunity to practice things we're showing them on film.”
With the Penguins running a little hot streak and getting the opportunity to better themselves in practice this month, the stage is set for them to make a good run as the winter comes in.
