Sullivan says Penguins get a kick out of emotional Kessel
A little emotion is good for a team's psyche, according to Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan.
Phil Kessel was the story in Game 2 on Monday night. After going off on a few of his teammates on the bench during the second period, the sniper stole the show in the third, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 Penguins win.
Related - Watch: Kessel channels anger, scores Game 2 winner
As for Sullivan, he likes to see that kind of emotion from his star player and he feels his team does as well.
"He's all in. He wants to win. Quite honestly, I think the rest of our team gets a kick out of him," Sullivan said postgame. "It's emotional. They're heated for all the right reasons - because they're invested ... We call it a man's argument."
Several Penguins players said Kessel is always yelling on the bench because he always wants the puck. They tend to tune him out eventually.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) May 16, 2017
The Penguins will certainly take a fired-up Kessel. The 29-year-old's goal was his second game-winner of the postseason, and helped push his postseason point total to 14 in 14 games, good enough for a share of fourth in playoff scoring.