LAS VEGAS -- For a team that has lost two in a row and is just 6-8-2 on the road, this wouldn't seem the most opportune moment for a three-game road trip three-quarters of the way across the continental United States.
Actually, it might be just what the Penguins need.
Long before Jim Rutherford hinted strongly that he might be shaking up his team via trade, the critical nature of this road trip was evident during Wednesday afternoon's practice at T-Mobile Arena. Looking to shake things up his own way, Mike Sullivan mixed up his lines and defensive pairs. Most notably, Patric Hornqvist was placed on the left wing on the second line with Evgeni Malkin centering Phil Kessel on the right.
Hornqvist, a right winger by trade during his decade-long NHL career, would seem an odd choice to be moved. He has been the Penguins' most consistent offensive performer, save for Kessel, but Sullivan's directive is clear.
"He's a guy that goes to the net and he goes to the battle areas," Sullivan said. "He plays a pretty simple game. Whoever plays with Geno and Phil, the coaches feel we need a little more net traffic and a little more net presence. It might encourage them to start shooting the puck a little more."
For a team whose confidence seems shaken following a season-high five-game homestand that saw them go just 2-3, perhaps a reset is in order. Keeping things simple -- always a sound strategy on the road -- might be the Penguins' best plan on their western swing.
"Makes my job a little easier," Hornqvist said. "I just go even harder to the net and create space for (Malkin and Kessel). They should have the puck, but we have to make sure we take it to the net. We can't just play on the outside. I think that was our problem last game against Colorado."
Against the Avalanche the Penguins were held to one goal for just the second time at home, despite getting 40 shots on net on 69 attempts. However those numbers are a little misleading, as 28 of them were taken from above the circles according to Corsica Hockey.
An extended road trip like the one the Penguins have embarked on, beginning with tonight's game against Marc-Andre Fleury and the surprising Golden Knights, isn't a bad thing. It's a chance to circle the wagons or "come together" as Rutherford said, to operate in close quarters and focus on nothing but hockey for a week.
A lot of eyes will be on Thursday night's game just because of the Fleury factor, but it's the kind of big stage the Penguins have succeeded on in recent years.
"Playing on the road is a little more of a challenge but I think that adversity, that intensity can help you as a team and find that desperation," Sidney Crosby was telling me after being partnered with Dominik Simon, a not-so-grizzled "veteran" of seven NHL games, and Jake Guentzel on the top line in practice.
Want to talk desperation? Rutherford was calling this a "critical" juncture in the season that could impact the future employment of a few players.
The good news for the Penguins is that their third-ranked power play, as good as it is, went 1 for 7 during their two-game skid. Pittsburgh's lone goal Saturday against Toronto came from Malkin:
But on the road, the power play has been absolutely lethal. The Penguins convert at 22.4 percent at home but are significantly better away from PPG Paints Arena, at 31.4 percent. Washington's road power play, clicking at 26.3 percent, is a distant second.
Sullivan wasn't sure why the power play would be better on the road when they employ the same personnel and same scheme at home. But he added, "We tend to keep the game a little simpler, shoot the puck more."
Sounds like a plan.
"I think when you're on the road, you maybe don't get as many (chances) or you don't feed off the crowd as much and you make the most out of the ones you get," Crosby was telling me. "I think that urgency is always a little higher there just given the situations. I would put it on that. For whatever reason it's been that way and is something that can help us win some road games, too."