With Letang out, Pouliot could be next man up

Mike Sullivan described the Penguins' plan to continue winning with Kris Letang out as a "sorting out process," and it appears it could begin with Derrick Pouliot in the lineup tonight against Los Angeles.

Pouliot returned to Pittsburgh on Thursday after a four-game stint in Wilkes-Barre and participated in the Penguins' morning skate Friday morning at PPG Paints Arena, leaving the ice with the other five defensemen while fellow defenseman Steve Oleksy remained to get extra work in.



"They told me to just go out there, try not too do too much off the bat here; pick my spots, try to jump into the rush when I can," Pouliot said of his instructions. "Defend hard and help keep this team rolling."

He won't be asked to replace Letang. No single player will. Letang, who is expected to miss "a couple of weeks" with a lower-body injury, is averaging more than 26 minutes of ice time per game with two goals and 17 assists.

Sullivan would not elaborate on how the Penguins plan to adjust in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, but he'll have options. He's facing the decision of whether to split up Justin Schultz and Ian Cole, since Cole is the Penguins' left-handed shooting defenseman with the most experience playing on the right side, though Olli Maatta is equipped to fill that role.

There's also the top power play unit, which had begun to excel as of late with Trevor Daley playing next to Letang. Though Schultz, who has 11 points during the winning streak, is the logical choice to fill the void, Sullivan said he has a few options to turn to.

"Obviously there is going to be a little bit of a sorting out process when we lose Tanger," Sullivan said Friday morning. "He logs a lot of minutes. Those aren’t easy minutes to replace. I don’t know if we have one guy who can do it. I think it will be done by committee. It’s going to be the group of six. We’ll sort through it, see how the game goes and it might be one of those decisions we make game-by-game depending on who’s playing well and trying to put players in stations when they are playing well to get them on the ice."

Pouliot hopes to be part of that mix.

The 22-year-old defenseman was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last Wednesday and appeared in four games, firing four shots on goal in each of his last two games but not recording a point.

Pouliot, who had seven points in 22 games last season, has appeared in just one game for the Penguins this season, playing 12:29 in the 3-2 win over San Jose on Sept. 20, but he left the game with an injury and missed a few weeks.

The former first-round pick was sent on a conditioning assignment and was recalled by the Penguins on Nov. 28, but did not appear in a game. With Schultz and Cole playing exceptionally well on the third defensive pairing, Sullivan wanted to get Pouliot into game situations.

The only logical move was to send him to Wilkes-Barre, and Pouliot was a -3 in his first game back in the AHL. He has no points in seven games and is a minus-4 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

"I don’t think my numbers down there reflected how I felt about my game and how I was playing," Pouliot said, shrugging off the notion four games has him completely comfortable with the speed of the game. "Aside from the first one back, progressively it was getting better."

It appeared Letang was injured during the second period of the Penguins' win over Boston Wednesday night when he was hit by David Backes. It will be the second time this season they've been forced to play without their top defenseman and unlike last season when the team struggled in his absence, the Penguins went 4-1 when Letang missed five games in October.

It was a drastic improvement from last season, when they went 2-8-1 without him in the lineup. No, the Penguins didn't find the secret to winning without him.

"I think it’s just individually people stepping up," Brian Dumoulin said. "Obviously it isn’t the best situation when he’s not in our lineup, but it’s something we have to deal with. All of us are stepping up a little bit more and chipping away at it. Hopefully he’s not out for too long."

Sullivan would not elaborate on defensive pairings or if Pouliot will indeed play against the Kings. Oleksy has been the Penguins' No. 7 defenseman and has drawn glowing reviews from the coaching staff for his work ethic, but has only appeared in one game and lacks the puck-moving ability that made Pouliot one of the NHL's top prospects not long ago.

Pouliot admitted to being frustrated with his role just two weeks ago, relegated to the press box instead of in the lineup. His opportunity may have arrived to show the Penguins he belongs.

"It’s never easy, the situation he's been in," Bryan Rust told me. "He still comes to the rink with a smile on his face, laughing, join around and working hard. That’s something that you always respect is when a guy is going through a little bit of a tough time and how he handles himself. He’s been handling himself well and I think he’s going to make the most out of his opportunity."