Five-on-five key to turnabout

Turnarounds have been many since the start of 2018. The Penguins’ stars have been terrific. Home wins have become routine again. Goaltending has been a strength. Aside from the four games before taking on the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night, the power play has somehow gotten even better.

But take all of the factors you think could or should explain the Penguins’ 12-4-1 record since New Year’s Day (excluding Tuesday), and chances are none of the changes has been as drastic as what has occurred fiveon-five.

The Penguins haven’t quite gone worst to first, but it has been close.

Through the first 40 games of the season, only the Arizona Coyotes (minus-39) had a worse five-onfive goal differential than the Penguins (minus-38). Entering Tuesday only four teams have been better than the Penguins’ plus-8 mark since Jan. 1.

Furthermore, only the Tampa Bay Lightning (44) has more than the Penguins’ 42 five-on-five goals. They’re averaging 2.5 fiveon-five goals per game over the past 17, compared with 1.3 over the first 40.

“I think we’re getting back to the way we’re used to playing,” winger Conor Sheary said. “At the beginning of the year, we kind of got away from it.

“When we all buy into the system and play with each other, that’s when we’re effective. We’ve really been getting back to that since the break.”

Sheary isn’t wrong, but there’s plenty more to the Penguins’ turnaround here.

For one, shooting percentage.

Through the first 40 games, the Penguins shot an absurdly and unsustainably low 4.96 percent, easily the worst in the NHL. Since Jan. 1, the Penguins have been tied for second at 9.46 percent.

The Penguins are also controlling scoring chances at a 54.11 percent clip, good enough for fourth. Through the first 40 games, they were 15th at 50.20 percent.

Better goaltending also has been a factor.

Penguins goalies were last with a .902 save percentage during five-on-five situations through the end of 2017 but have improved to 22nd at .918 over the past 17 games.

“I think we’re playing more committed,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think we’re winning puck battles. There’s cooperative play. Our puck-pursuit game is better. We’re more committed to the details.

“At the end of the day, it boils down to being committed to play together, to play as a group. It starts with the puck battles and a willingness to compete in those areas.”

Conference final rematch

The previous time the Penguins and Senators shared the ice at PPG Paints Arena, Chris Kunitz was being mobbed by his teammates after scoring one of the biggest goals in franchise history.

Tuesday night, the two teams met in Pittsburgh for the first time since that Eastern Conference final last season, which ended on Kunitz’s double-overtime goal in Game 7.

Kunitz left for Tampa Bay as a free agent this past offseason, but plenty of players on both sides remain from that series.

The Penguins beat the Senators, 3-1, in Ottawa Nov. 16, but, as the Senators returned to the scene of their heartbreak, the Penguins expected they would have some revenge on their minds.

“Hockey players are proud guys,” Bryan Rust said after the morning skate.

“It doesn’t matter where they are in the standings. As players, as a team, as an organization, they’ve got something to prove, just like everyone else.”

As Rust referenced, the Senators will not be returning to the Eastern Conference final this season. They came into the game Tuesday with 47 points, only five ahead of Buffalo for last place in the Eastern Conference.

But the Penguins were expecting to go up against the team they faced in the playoffs last spring, not the one that is tied for the fewest road wins (seven) in the NHL this season.

“They were — still are — a really good team,” Sheary said. “They showed that last year with their system and their players, they can go a long way. I don’t know what it is this year. Sometimes, things just don’t go your way. They still have the same players, same skill up front. We’ve just got to be aware they’re a dangerous team.”

While the Senators’ personnel might be similar — with the exception of the splashy Kyle Turris for Matt Duchene swap earlier this season — this clearly isn’t the same team that was on the ice for Kunitz’s goal last spring.

Ottawa’s 188 goals allowed are the second most in the Eastern Conference and third most in the NHL.