STOCKHOLM — Kyle Dubas walked briskly out of Avicii Arena on Saturday afternoon following Penguins practice. Walking side by side with him was Dan Muse, the man he hired about six months earlier to guide his team.
As the surprising Penguins reach what could be a very pivotal stretch of schedule, it’s only fitting that they’re in Stockholm and that Dubas and Muse were walking stride by stride together. This is, after all, where it all started.
Muse’s Penguins knocked the hockey world on its collective backside with a spectacular October, something most pundits and fans alike were not expecting. There’s been far more talk about the Penguins making their way back to the postseason than there has been about the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes.
However, in the past couple of weeks, that feel-good start to the season has endured some blows. The Penguins are 1-3-2 in their past six games, have blown 3-0 leads in two of those games, blown leads of some type in four of those six games and suddenly have lost some of the momentum from that glorious start.
Their head coach received a considerable amount of praise for the Penguins’ start. He’s now in the spotlight as he attempts to guide his team out of its first slump on his watch.
His players maintain he hasn’t blinked.
“He’s got a stern side when needed,” Blake Lizotte said. “But he’s relational. He isn’t going to scream at you until you’re blue in the face. He isn’t like that. He’s just consistent, doesn’t waver.”
The Penguins will have an opportunity to turn the tide of their losing streak when they play the Predators at 9 a.m. ET in Stockholm on Sunday.
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