Tanner Pearson went from one tough situation in Los Angeles, where reality has started to hit the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup champion Kings that perhaps their championship window has closed.
He should only hope the same isn't going to happen in Pittsburgh, where the 2016 and 2017 champion Penguins are going through their own struggles of late.
A day after being traded by the Kings for Carl Hagelin, Pearson will make his Penguins debut tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning at PPG Paints Arena.
On a team that's lost six of its last seven and is now without its captain, it's probably a bit much to expect Pearson to singlehandedly pull his new team out of a tailspin.
After all, it's been a whirlwind for him the last 24 hours. Though he was aware he might be on the trading block, he still had to rush back to his SoCal house, pack his belongings and then fly to Pittsburgh, where he just met his new teammates Thursday morning. The only familiar face was Jamie Oleksiak, who was his teammate on Canada's 2012 world junior championship team.
Like Oleksiak, who came over from Dallas last December and carved his niche in Pittsburgh, the Penguins are hoping that they can jumpstart Pearson's career. After putting up 44 and 40 points each of the last two seasons, he has just one assist in 17 games this year, that coming in the Kings' season opener.
"I think personally and team-wise in L.A., it wasn't the start that we all wanted, especially personally," he said Thursday. "But hoping for a change of scenery kind of freshens things and I can get back to my game."
Pearson, who will wear No. 14, described his game as "north-south and good along the boards and making plays."
Where exactly Pearson will be slotted won't be known until warm-up tonight. Mike Sullivan said the plan, at least for tonight, is for the left-shooting left winger to just play his game.
"We're obviously excited to have him, we think he can help our team," the coach said. "We just don't want him to over-think it, trust his instincts and play hard and embrace his teammates and everything else will take care of itself. We'll give him a rudimentary understanding of how we're trying to play, but we're not going to fill his head with too much information."
It's a bit of a homecoming for Pearson. He was the 30th overall -- and last -- pick in the first round of the 2012 draft held in Pittsburgh. His recollections of that night?
"Nerve-wracking," he said. "It was a long night, especially being the last pick of that night. It kind of dragged on but was pretty cool to go up on that stage, too."
THE ESSENTIALS
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Sidney Crosby, center, is out with an upper body injury sustained Tuesday. Derick Brassard, forward, will miss his ninth straight game with a lower-body injury. He's been skating on his own in recent days. Justin Schultz, defenseman, is expected to miss four months after fracturing his leg Oct. 13 in Montreal.
• Lightning: Andrei Vasilevskiy, goalie, is out indefinitely with a broken foot. Tonight's game will be the first he'll miss. Ondrej Palat, forward, will miss his 10th game with a lower body injury. Anton Stralman, defenseman, has missed the past two games with an upper body injury but is expected to play.
THE SKATE
• After sitting out the past three games due to ineffective play, Matt Murray will get the start as expected. It will be his first start since giving up four goals on 27 shots to New Jersey on Nov. 5. Murray told me on Wednesday that he's been working with Mike Buckley on a few things he wouldn't elaborate on, but stressed he was working "smarter, not harder." Sullivan reiterated on Thursday that Murray, not Casey DeSmith, is the guy in net for the Penguins. "Matt's a No. 1 goalie," the coach said. "As I've said all along, even though Casey's had the net for the past couple games, that Matt is still very much in the picture. That never changed. We still have the utmost faith and trust in Matt. He's a terrific goalie. He's an accomplished goalie for such a young guy. He's got a great opportunity against a very good team to backstop our club."
• Along with Crosby, those not taking the ice on Thursday morning were veterans Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin.
• Aside from his point total, Riley Sheahan can relate to Pearson. Sheahan was dealt last fall to Pittsburgh from Detroit where he'd played his entire career. The center said the organization makes it a fairly easy transition. It's the ancillary stuff that can be a little trickier. "I don't want to say it was easy, it's always tough moving and changing scenery but I think the guys in here, the staff and management make everything pretty smooth," Sheahan told me. "Aside from your living situation and things outside the arena, I think from a hockey standpoint, it's a pretty nice transition and a great organization to play for."
• After three games in the minors, Derek Grant is back -- albeit in a new locker stall. Pearson now occupies his old one. Grant still has the same sunny disposition and said he was able to go down to Wilkes-Barre and work on his offense. He posted three goals, four points and a plus-5 in five games with WBS. "Anytime you go down, you want to find ways to produce and feel good about yourself and your game and get some confidence, so when you come back, you're ready to go and playing your best hockey," he said. Grant's last game in the AHL was Wednesday's matinee win over Springfield in which Tristan Jarry scored a goal. Not that Grant was too surprised to see him do it, but he did say he and his teammates got a good a laugh when Jarry went by the bench for a "fly-by" after scoring.
• The Penguins will don their alternate gold jerseys for the first of 12 games this season.
• Mario Lemieux will drop the ceremonial first puck to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his foundation.
THE OTHER SIDE
• The Lightning have had little adversity this season. They are 12-5-1 and lead the Eastern Conference by a point over Toronto. But on Thursday morning they were dealt a blow when it was learned that Vasilevskiy will be out tonight and possibly longer. Jon Cooper said that last year's Vezina finalist went back to Tampa to be reevaluated and could not comment until hearing from team doctors.
• After practicing Wednesday, the Lightning held an optional skate.
• Eddie Pasquale was recalled from Syracuse to backup Louis Domingue. Pasquale is yet to play in a NHL game.
• No matter who is in goal, the Lightning are a dangerous team, according to J.T. Miller.
"We have a lot of faith in Louis and what he brings to the team," he said. "We preach all the time it shouldn't matter who's back there. We should play the same way. Obviously, we're playing really well and we're a confident team and knows what it takes to win. That shouldn't change our mentality."
• Miller, who grew up in western Pa. and Ohio and still makes his off-season home here, is in his first full season with Tampa after coming over at last February's trade deadline from the Rangers. He says he and his wife have come to embrace their news city, the fans and, of course, the weather doesn't hurt either.
But it also helps to be on a good team with legit Cup aspirations and playing on one of the top lines in the NHL. Miller is the left winger on a line with center Steven Stamkos and right wingers Nikita Kucherov. They have a combined 18 goals and 47 points.
"(Stamkos) is a helluva player, Kuch is helluva player," Miller told me. "Just try to keep it simple and play my game and make ice for those two. When we get open ice, they they make good plays."
THE COMBINATIONS
• Here's an educated guess on the lines and combinations, based on who is out:
Pearson - Malkin - Hornqvist
Guentzel - Sheahan - Kessel
Simon - Grant - Rust
Aston-Reese - Cullen - Wilson
Johnson - Letang
Dumoulin - Ruhwedel
Maatta - Oleksiak
• The Lightning used these lines Tuesday in Buffalo:
Miller - Stamkos - Kucherov
Gourde - Point - Johnson
Killorn - Cirelli - Joseph
Erne - Paquette - Callahan
Girardi - Hedman
McDonagh - Stralman
Coburn - Sergachev
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff tonight is at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins have a practice scheduled for noon Friday, then charter to Ottawa where they'll face the Senators on Saturday night at 7:08 p.m. at Canadian Tire Centre.
THE COVERAGE
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