After his first win as a Pittsburgh Steeler in Week 1 of this NFL season, quarterback Aaron Rodgers spun this quote about the nature of his team’s 34-32 victory over the New York Jets.
“It’s like a coach’s dream journal,” Rodgers said. “To win but also have some correctable moments.”
All too true. There are few things in the world that coaches love to do more than obsess over fixable details that weren’t so problematic that they got in the way of a victory.
For Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Muse, though, of late, he’s had a hard time searching for negative nuance with his team.
His “dream journal” has been pretty empty.
A 4-1 victory over New Jersey on Thursday night was Pittsburgh’s sixth in a row. The Pens have outscored opponents 29-13 along the way.
Muse is even having a hard time pinpointing one significant deficiency that the Penguins have shelved to flip the script on the eight-game losing streak they endured prior to Christmas.
“There’s not one thing right now that I’m going to say is a reason that we came out of this break. More the wins started coming,” Muse said after beating the Devils at PPG Paints Arena. “Prior to the break, we were playing good hockey. We just weren’t consistent with it. And it wasn’t for a full 60 minutes. The group as a whole came out of that break, and right away, we felt refreshed just having a little bit of time. And now you start to build some momentum, and you build from one game to the next.”
But as Muse continued speaking, he did talk himself into one significant improvement.
“The ebbs and flows of the game are being controlled better,” Muse continued. “If I was to say one thing, in terms of (the) difference between these last six games and maybe the six to 10 games prior, it’s that.”
The victory over New Jersey provided some evidence to Muse’s point. Part of Pittsburgh’s problem during that eight-game funk was that they were constantly blowing leads — often in the third period.
Against Dallas, a 2-1 lead slipped away in the final frame. Back-to-back multi-goal leads at home were blown against San Jose and Utah. A 3-2 lead at home versus Montreal went up in smoke in the final 20 minutes.
Yet, against the Devils, New Jersey got a goal at 2:55 in the third, down 3-0. But the Penguins shut the door for the next 10 minutes before Blake Lizotte added some insurance by making it 4-1.
NOEL ACCIARI WITH A PERFECT PASS TO BLAKE LIZOTTE pic.twitter.com/gigxFVG0oj
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 9, 2026
In their previous game against Columbus, the Pens scored first, only to see the Blue Jackets race in front 4-1. Yet Muse’s bunch rebounded and won 5-4 in overtime.
"THE PENGUINS WIN! THE PENGUINS WIN!"
WHO BUT SIDNEY CROSBY! ???? pic.twitter.com/CujPru5uPP
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 4, 2026
Similarly, on New Year’s Day, the Pens opened a two-goal lead against Detroit. The Red Wings tied it. They flip-flopped goals to make it 3-3 before Kris Letang got the overtime game-winner.
OUR GAME-WINNING GOAL HERO IN HIS 1,200TH @NHL GAME! pic.twitter.com/tYMgS9GmxQ
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 2, 2026
Those are the kinds of “ebbs and flows” that Muse was referencing.
“We can continue to clean up. But we also always want to take those points that we believe are the winning details, the things that are going well, and you want to continue to build on them and highlight them and show them,” Muse said.
Wait. Did I just mention overtime wins a few times a moment ago? That’s another thing Muse could’ve brought up if he was so inclined.
The Penguins have finally scratched out a few victories in overtime and the shootout. They’ve grasped an extra point three times in a row now, dating back to Dec. 21. Prior to that date, Pittsburgh had dropped nine games in 10 tries that had gone beyond regulation.
“Right when we came back from the break, we just got back to work,” goalie Stuart Skinner said Thursday night. “I feel like our details in here are really solid. Ever since we got back, I feel like we’ve been rolling pretty good. It’s our job to keep that consistency going.”
Maintaining those details will be crucial over the next few games. Following Saturday’s home contest against Calgary, the Penguins (51 points) face four Eastern Conference foes in a row — Boston, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and Columbus.
If the Penguins truly want to be a playoff contender, replicating this momentum up to the Olympic break in early February will be crucial.
Just keep the entries in Muse’s “dream journal” to a minimum, and they’ll be in good shape.
