CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Penguins on Wednesday practiced line rushes for the first time since Jake Guentzel underwent shoulder surgery that will sideline him for four to six months.
We got a first look at the likely forward line combinations for when the Penguins take the ice without Guentzel for the first time this season Thursday against the Sharks:
Alex Galchenyuk -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Dominik Simon -- Jared McCann -- Patric Hornqvist
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Dominik Kahun -- Joseph Blandisi -- Sam Lafferty
That's Alex Galchenyuk, who has two goals and an assist in his last three games, playing with Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust on the top line.
"I'm just trying to come in and do my best and bring what I can bring to the line to help the team win," Galchenyuk said. "Him and Rusty and Guentz were playing great, it's unfortunate. But I'm going to come in and bring my skillset and help those guys keep being successful. ... Just coming in, it's a great opportunity for me to play with those guys. I just have to take advantage of it."
It's not easy to replace Guentzel, who recorded 20 goals and 23 assists in 39 games before his injury. Galchenyuk said he's not going to go into games with the mindset that he needs to replace Guentzel, and that he's just focused on doing his best.
Rust is hoping that with his support, he can make it easier for Galchenyuk to keep contributing offensively.
"He's got great offensive instincts," Rust said of Galchenyuk's game. "He's got a really good shot. I hope that I can help that out, use my speed and create some space and open up some time for him in the slot so he can use that shot."
Both Galchenyuk and Rust have seen time separately with Malkin this season, but this will be the first time that the two wingers will playing together. Galchenyuk said it's hard to judge chemistry off of a practice, and that they'll just have to "see what happens" when it comes to a real game situation. Rust added that there's no real way of knowing how long it could take for a line to find chemistry.
"Sometimes guys click, sometimes guys don't," Rust said. "I think that's just the nature of the game. Some guys have chemistry right away, sometimes it takes a little while and sometimes you can't find it with certain guys. Hopefully we can find that quick here."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• The defense pairings rotated.
• As expected, Sidney Crosby was back to skating on his own prior to practice, and did not stay on the ice for full practice. He said on Tuesday that he skated with the team due to limited ice availability that day, and that he planned on going back to skating on his own.
• Nick Bjugstad had a scheduled day off from skating on his own, but he was still in the building. Justin Schultz hasn't skated yet and continues to work on his rehab off of the ice. Brian Dumoulin, who was still using a crutch as of Monday, obviously isn't skating yet and is still a ways away from returning.
• The top power play unit was Malkin, Rust, Jared McCann, Patric Hornqvist, and Kris Letang.
• The second power play unit was John Marino, Juuso Riikola, Dominik Kahun, Alex Galchenyuk, and Zach Aston-Reese.
• The top penalty killing unit was Brandon Tanev, Teddy Blueger, Chad Ruhwedel, and Marcus Pettersson.
• The team spent an extended time working on six-on-five drills with different combinations, practicing for situations where either they or an opponent pull the goaltender for the extra attacker. It's not something we see in practice too often.
