The Pittsburgh Penguins made the change that altered their season in mid-December. That's when general manager Jim Rutherford decided that his floundering team would benefit from a coaching change. Out went Mike Johnston and in came Mike Sullivan.
Under Johnston, the Penguins had been a somewhat listless team and they had a hard time sustaining any success. Rutherford knew that the Penguins certainly had more ability than that, and Sullivan was charged with getting it out of them.
It didn't happen overnight, and the Penguins teetered on the playoff-eligibility line for quite a while. Sullivan's influence eventually took hold and the Penguins started to play to their ability.