Drive to the Net: Second line a bright spot taken at PPG Paints Arena (Penguins)

Brandon Tanev skates vs. the Sabres. -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

The Penguins as a whole had a pretty awful showing in their season opener on Thursday night, a 3-1 loss to the Sabres on home ice.

There were some highlights, though. Matt Murray was great. He was the Penguins' best individual player on the ice. Another bright spot (really, the only other one) was the second line of Alex GalchenyukEvgeni Malkin, and Brandon Tanev.

Before the game, Galchenyuk acknowledged that it may take some time for the new combinations to be completely comfortable with each other.

“We’re definitely more comfortable if we practice or skate together,” he said. “I’m sure it will take a few games, but you also never know. It could be from the first shift. That’s what we’re hoping and we’re keeping a positive mindset.”

Although the Penguins' second line was far from perfect in its regular season debut, there were moments that made this look like a line with real potential.

From the line's first shift, it was clear that Tanev was one of the few players on the team who showed up ready to play with energy, and that these players were having an easy time finding each other on the ice and making clean passes. This play between Tanev and Malkin came toward the end of the line's first shift, with Jared McCann coming on for Galchenyuk on the line change and taking the shot:

At the start of the line's second shift we got a look at the speed that this line can use. Tanev helps force a Sabres turnover in the Penguins' zone, then the three easily fly straight ahead through the neutral zone on the rush, passing to each other over the width of the ice but not being limited speed-wise by the east-west passing:

I also thought it was encouraging to see Galchenyuk, who has averaged 51 hits per season over his seven-year career, throwing his body around in the neutral zone:

Tanev led the team with five hits at five-on-five, and Galchenyuk finished fifth with three hits. Malkin didn't record any hits.

When the entire line was on the ice, the Penguins attempted nine shots and allowed 14 attempts in a span of 10:46, the worst ratio of attempts made to allowed of any of the four lines. Looking at actual shots on goal, the second line was second-best, registering five shots and allowing seven.

Tanev was responsible for the Penguins' only high-danger attempt at five-on-five in the entire game, coming in the final minute of the first period. He drove to the net with speed and took a shot in close off a feed from Malkin:

Mike Sullivan saw flashes of good offense out of the line, even though they weren't able to score at five-on-five:

"They certainly had their moments through the course of the game where they had some real high-quality chances," Sullivan said. "They didn't convert on them, but they certainly had their moments."

The speed, the passing, the vision, the elements are all there on this line. Moving forward, Malkin knows the team as a whole needs to put together a better 60-minute effort and limit mistakes to be successful.

"Exhibition games are done," he said. "It's real games right now. It's for sure a wakeup call ... The season started already, we need to understand that. It's not like, 'Oh, we have 20 games to wake up.' No. It's already started. Every point is important. Every year is harder and harder to make the playoffs, we understand that."

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