If Patric Hornqvist is playing for the Penguins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final -- and it sure sounds like he is -- then one forward has to come out.
Could it be the team's leading goal-scorer in these playoffs?
Don't count it out.
Jake Guentzel's got nine goals, tied with the Ducks' Jakob Silfverberg for most in the NHL, but he had none in the seven-game Eastern Conference final against the Senators and, maybe more alarming, was held to one or zero shots in four of those games. He had three shots in Game 7 but also a minus-2 rating. And he hasn't scored since a garbage-time goal in the Game 6 loss in the Washington series.
What's more, he wasn't rolling through the regular line rushes Sunday at PPG Paints Arena in the Penguins' first and only practice before Game 1, a powerful indicator that he'll be out. Hornqvist was on the fourth line, plus the top power-play unit. Conor Sheary, clearly back in Mike Sullivan's good graces after rebounding from two scratches to shine in Game 7 against the Senators, was right back on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Game 7 hero Chris Kunitz. And it's immensely unlikely that Sullivan and staff would remove highly effective grit guys Carter Rowney or Scott Wilson.
These were the lines and defense pairings from practice:
Kunitz-Crosby-Sheary
Wilson-Malkin-Kessel
Rust-Bonino-Rowney
Hagelin-Cullen-Hornqvist
Cole-Schultz
Maatta-Daley
Dumoulin-Hainsey
