Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin skate together as Penguins shake up lines in practice
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For the vast majority of their careers in Pittsburgh, the talents of franchise centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have usually been leveraged on separate lines.
So seeing coach Mike Sullivan pair them together during Monday’s practice in Cranberry was highly notable.
Following an ugly road trip through Western Canada that saw the Penguins go 0-3-1, securing just one of eight possible points, Sullivan deployed Malkin as first-line left wing with Crosby and Rickard Rakell.
Granted, the Penguins practiced without Bryan Rust after he exited Saturday’s loss against the Vancouver Canucks due to injury, which created a vacancy on Crosby’s line.
And Sullivan has used Crosby and Malkin together situationally at times this year, “more so than any other year” of his tenure in Pittsburgh, per his own admission.
But seeing how Sullivan tinkered with his entire lineup in Monday’s practice setting is suggestive of the Penguins (3-6-1) hoping such tweaks can help jolt them out of a disappointing overall start to the season.
“We’re trying different combinations to see if we can create a spark for the group,” Sullivan said. “We’ve had a number of different combinations here the first little while in the early part of the season, and, given the circumstance we’re in and where we are right now, we thought we’d give it a try in practice today and see what it looked like.
“Obviously, (Crosby and Malkin are) generational talents, both of them. When they’re potentially out there on the ice at the same time, that could pose a particular threat. We thought we would give it a shot. We’ll see where it goes.”
Crosby and Malkin skating together was the tip of the iceberg as far as alterations.
Kevin Hayes centered the club’s second line, flanked by Anthony Beauvillier and Jesse Puljujarvi at left and right wing.
Lars Eller remained at third-line center, skating with Drew O’Connor to his left and Noel Acciari on the right side.
Finally, from left to right, Michael Bunting, Cody Glass and Valtteri Puustinen made up the Penguins’ fourth line.
“Whatever’s going to translate into wins,” Crosby said of skating with Malkin and Monday’s tweaks. “I think that’s whatever the combinations are. So yeah, I don’t think we change anything other than hopefully with losing some here, we find another level of desperation, urgency and find a way to get back in the win column.”
Defensively, Sullivan paired Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson together, with Erik Karlsson and Matt Grzelcyk forming the second pair.
Jack St. Ivany and Ryan Graves formed the team’s third pairing.
Through 10 games played, traditional stats and advanced analytics paint an unflattering, if not downright concerning, picture for the Penguins.
After averaging 2.25 goals per game on their recent road trip, which included a shutout at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers last Friday, the Penguins rank 21st in the NHL with 3.00 goals per game on the year.
More ominous is the 4.20 goals per game they are allowing, which is third-worst in the league, and NHL-most 35 shots allowed per contest.
Anyone who’s tuned into a Penguins game lately likely has seen their heartbeat spike seconds into the contest, as the club has struggled to prevent frequent quality looks by opponents, making life tough for netminders Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist.
Not to mention blown leads, opponent goals in bunches and an inability to claw back in games (the Penguins are 0-6 when trailing after two periods).
Analytics back up those naked-eye criticisms, as the Penguins, per Natural Stat Trick, have been outscored by 13 (36-23) at even strength.
Additionally, they are in the red when it comes to high-danger shots (100-71) and high-danger chances (136-120).
Tuesday’s puck drop vs. Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild kicks off a three-game homestand.
Regardless of whatever personnel changes make it on the lineup card, the Penguins will look to start playing a better overall team game.
“We have to be honest with each other that it hasn’t been good enough here the first 10 games,” said always-blunt forward Lars Eller. “The good news is we’ve got 72 (games) left to make it right. We need to start piling 60 minutes together. We’re not good enough to have these lapses within the game and to be able to come back from a two-goal deficit. It’s too much to ask.
“We’ve got to improve in some areas, but we’ve got to stay positive and do it together and support each other. We’ve got to become a team. We’ve got to become a team over 60 minutes a game.”
Notes: Rust was visible at Monday’s practice in gym clothes. Sullivan said he is “being evaluated” for an undisclosed ailment after leaving Saturday’s game prematurely. Also per Sullivan, forward Matt Nieto, who has not played since Nov. 30 of last year due to multiple knee surgeries, practiced fully with the club for the first time Monday. Fellow forwards Blake Lizotte (concussion) practiced in a non-contact fashion while Vasily Ponomarev skated individually ahead of Monday’s organized session.