The Penguins look to limit their 'volatility' as they resume the season

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ practice in Cranberry on Monday was different.

It lasted more than an hour and had two portions to it.

There was even an “intermission” when a couple of Zamboni ice resurfacers cleaned the rink after the team primarily worked on individual skills in the first portion.

The second portion featured plenty of five-on-five and special teams drills.

It was almost like a practice session they would stage during training camp, just without the sunny September skies outside or flocks of prospects and minor leaguers wearing jerseys numbered in the 60s.

The need for such a long practice session was binary.

First, they haven’t played in more than a week as a result of their bye week that led into the break for the NHL’s All-Star Game event this past weekend.

Second, they weren’t playing all that well going into the break. Their sloppy play throughout most of last month culminated with a repugnant 6-4 home loss to the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 28.

A little rest and a lot of refinement were required for the Penguins as they enter the final months of the regular season while tenuously holding on to the final playoff seeding in the Eastern Conference standings.

They are slated to resume their season Tuesday with a home game against the Colorado Avalanche.

“That was the perfect time for it to kind of refresh, reset,” defenseman Jeff Petry said in reference to the break. “We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us. The good thing is that we control our own destiny. Obviously, there was some good things that came out of the first half of the year and some things that we can improve on.”

Offering a consistent approach appears to be their most prominent area of need, at least based on what most players have said after practice sessions Sunday and Monday.

To wit, in the week leading up to their break, the Penguins offered an impressive defensive effort in a tight 3-2 overtime road loss to the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 22. Two nights later, they escaped with a ramshackle 7-6 overtime home win against the Florida Panthers in a contest that offered less defense than a disbarred attorney.

By Jan. 26, the Penguins’ discipline returned as they were edged on the road by the rival Washington Capitals, 3-2, in a shootout. Any momentum from that mostly satisfactory performance essentially was euthanized roughly 48 hours later in their ugly loss to the Sharks.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan frequently has used the word “volatility” to describe his team’s play that week as well as over the previous month.

“We’ve talked about our volatility as a group all season,” Sullivan said. “We have to find ways to bring a more consistent game to the table game in and game out, period in, period out. We’ve fallen victim of that a number of different ways throughout the course of the year. It’s incumbent on all of us that are inside that locker room to make that happen.

“A lot of it boils down to consistency of effort and execution. It starts in practice.”

Monday’s lengthy practice appeared to serve as a less-than-subtle reminder of what is expected of this team.

“We’re just trying to be more consistent,” forward Sidney Crosby said. “That’s kind of been the story leading up to the break, just finding that consistency in your game. We’re in the last stretch (of the regular season). that’s something that we’ve got to be better with. We understand that and want to get a good start here (Tuesday).”

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