Pittsburgh Penguins: 3 moves they must make after another early exit

2. Don’t Fire Mike Sullivan

Mike Sullivan is a very good coach. The Pittsburgh Penguins would be unwise to fire him because the Penguins stunk for four games after a four-month break. However, he does need to be held accountable for some of his mistakes.

Sullivan’s biggest mistake, honestly, is one I see in a lot of NHL coaches. Even the best ones. Sullivan trusted Jack Johnson far more than he should have. True, Johnson played the fewest minutes at 5v5 and during all situations in the postseason. But he shouldn’t have been playing at all. Period.

Schultz wasn’t much better in the playoffs, but he was noticeably better away from Johnson. That suggests as bad as Schultz was, it was Johnson who made the Penguins third pairing as bad as it was.

The decision to go with Matt Murray over Tristan Jarry was also baffling. This decision didn’t really hurt the Penguins, but still, Jarry was objectively a better goalie during the regular season than Murray. Murray was strong in Games 1 and 2, but really cost the Penguins in Game 3. Maybe Jarry steals Game 1 or Game 3.

Sullivan also put too much faith in Patrick Marleau. To top it all off, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both did not play 20 minutes in Game 4. If you’re going to go down, you should at least go down knowing you used your best guys.

Now, with all of that said, Sullivan deserves another chance. His track record speaks for itself. Sullivan warrants one more chance with a better roster. But he should be on the hot seat from here on out.