WASHINGTON — At least as far results go, it wasn’t like the Penguins needed the extra work. Their 4-3 win over the Canadiens on New Year’s Eve gave them 12 wins in December, only the fourth time in franchise history that’s happened.
But after the NHL-mandated bye week and four of the past five days spent practicing – a rarity for any season, let alone a compressed one — the Penguins feel their game is in an even better spot than it was around the holiday.
“There’s not a ton of practice time over the season because everything is so condensed,” Bryan Rust said Wednesday morning at Verizon Center ahead of today’s 8 p.