CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Far more troubling than just poor starts or their goaltender's glove hand, the Penguins' lack of secondary scoring has grown contagious.
The last forward to score an even strength goal not named Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist or Jake Guentzel? Wow, you'd have to go back to the first period of Game 6 of the Flyers series when Carl Hagelin scored.
Hagelin hasn't played since then with an upper body injury and neither has Evgeni Malkin, who has been out with a lower body injury.
But if the medical staff signs off on it, both Malkin and Hagelin could both be back in the lineup for Tuesday night's Game 3 of their second-round series against the Capitals. It won't come a moment too soon for the Penguins, who have scored just four goals -- three of them coming in a 4:49 span -- though the first two games against Washington.
Malkin would seem more probable to play after he was surprisingly not in the lineup for Game 2. If he does, it would seem he and Phil Kessel will be on separate lines once again.
During Monday's practice, Mike Sullivan had Kessel back on the third line with Derick Brassard and Conor Sheary, while Malkin skated with Bryan Rust and rookie Dominik Simon, who is likely keeping the seat warm for Hagelin.
With the Penguins slumping collectively, Sullivan might not have the luxury of placing Kessel and Malkin together, but "nothing is etched in stone" as Sullivan says.
"Obviously, we're a much better team when we get contributions throughout our lineup," the coach said. "That's what we're trying to find, a little more balance. I think we've had a fair amount of scoring chances; we haven't finished. That's the next step for us."
It was after the Penguins' loss in Game 2 against the Flyers that Sullivan reunited Kessel with Malkin in the hopes that it would spark the struggling Kessel's game. It did. Kessel responded by scoring a goal and two assists in Games 3 and 4.
But in Games 1 and 2 against the Capitals, skating on a line with Simon and Riley Sheahan, Kessel has been largely invisible, registering just three shots.
Whether Malkin or Brassard is his center, Sullivan says Kessel -- who is believed to be playing through an upper body injury -- has to shoot the puck.
"We're just trying to get him to simplify his game," Sullivan said. "Shoot the puck when he has opportunities. He's so dangerous when he shoots the puck and we're certainly trying to surround him with people that can help him be at his best. But he's a guy that we know that he plays his best when the stakes are high. He's done it for us time and time again. He's a guy we're going to rely on and we're going to need here moving forward."
With five points on just 12 shots in eight playoff games, Kessel is on pace for his least productive spring after finishing first and third in team playoff scoring the last two years. He currently ranks seventh.
After the first eight games of the 2017 playoffs, Kessel had four goals and 11 points on 30 shots. The year before that he had three goals and eight points on 32 shots.
But Kessel is hardly alone in his struggle among Penguins forwards:
• Brassard has just one goal this postseason, in Game 3 vs. Philadelphia, below, to go along with two assists.
• Sheahan also has just one goal, in Game 4 vs. the Flyers, and two assists.
• Sheary has just two assists in eight playoff games.
• Simon had two assists in his first two playoff games but none in the last two despite several quality looks.
"For sure, there were some chances. That was nice," Simon said Monday. "On the other hand, I was glad I got the chances but I feel like it will go in next time."
• Fourth liners Zach Aston-Reese, Tom Kuhnhackl and Carter Rowney? Forget it. Aston-Reese had one assist in Game 4 against the Flyers for the only point among that trio.
"If you want to go far, you have to have secondary scoring," Aston-Reese was telling me. "It's something as a group we need to talk about. We are getting chances. I thought Rowns, Kuhny and I had some good ones last night. Brass' line and Riley's line are playing well offensively. But I think it's important in hockey, you have to work for your bounces.'