EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Mike Sullivan's job requires him to make a lot of difficult decisions.
Putting Conor Sheary back on Sidney Crosby's right wing Tuesday, one day after Sheary was acquired from Buffalo, wasn't one of them.
"He's had success there before," Sullivan said. "He brings a speed element. He can finish. He's good in traffic. A lot of the attributes that Conor brings to the table are complementary to Sid.
"They've had success in the past. We're hoping that they can find some chemistry."
Those two skated on a line with Jason Zucker during the Penguins' practice at the Toyota Sports Performance Center, and that unit is expected to remain intact when the Penguins face the Kings Wednesday at 10:38 p.m. at Staples Center.
Crosby and Sheary certainly don't seem to have any qualms about renewing their partnership.
"We played a lot of games together," Crosby said. "We read off each other pretty well. He can play with anyone. He's a pretty easy guy to play with. ... You know what he brings every night. He's got a great work ethic and a lot of speed."
Sheary echoed those statements, calling Crosby "an easy guy to play with" and saying he is "excited for the opportunity."
While reuniting Crosby and Sheary was an easy call for Sullivan, he might face a few tougher ones in the near future, because defensemen Brian Dumoulin and John Marino returned to practice Tuesday and appear to be in the home stretch of their recovery from injuries.
"We're hoping (they return) sooner than later," Sullivan said. "They certainly looked really good out there today."
Dumoulin, who has missed 33 games while recovering from surgery to repair severed tendons in his left ankle, said after the workout that "everything feels good."
Which definitely was not the case after Blues forward Zach Sanford fell on the back of his legs during a game in St. Louis Nov. 30.
"As soon as I tried to take a stride, I knew something was wrong," Dumoulin said. "When I got back to the bench and put my leg up, you could just see blood all over my skate ... I knew at that point that something major had happened."
Marino didn't need nearly that long to realize he had been seriously injured after a Steven Stamkos shot slammed into the left side of his face Feb. 6, causing multiple fractures in his cheekbone.
"It's tough to watch," Marino said.
He still is dealing with some swelling but said it's "gotten a lot better."
When he returns, which seems like it could happen in a week or so, Marino will wear a full shield to protect his injury.
"It is a little harder to see the puck," he said. "But the more you skate with it, the more used to it you get."
With Dumoulin and Marino back at practice, the Penguins had nine defensemen on the ice Tuesday, but there were only 11 forwards because Jared McCann did not skate.
While there was no immediate word on why he was held out of the practice, not long after it ended, Sam Lafferty was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis. That suggests McCann might not be able to play against the Kings.
How his absence would affect the Penguins' forward combinations isn't clear, but it's likely Lafferty would be plugged into a spot with Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev, where assistant coach Mark Recchi filled in for McCann during practice.
The No. 2 line had Evgeni Malkin between Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist, while the other unit featured the Penguins' two other trade deadline acquisitions, Patrick Marleau and Evan Rodrigues, with Dominik Simon.
How long any of the lines will remain together is impossible to predict, and Sullivan seems open to experimenting with different groupings, in part because the newcomers can fill a variety of roles.
"They're all versatile, in the sense that we can move them up and down the lineup, depending on what our needs are on a given night," Sullivan said. "And I'm sure we'll explore some of the different combinations here moving forward."
Speed is a key component of the Penguins' preferred style of play, and all three forwards acquired at the deadline skate well.
"It's obviously high-tempo, a lot of speed," Rodrigues said. "A lot of skill in that lineup. I like to say I'm a speedy forward and have some skill, so hopefully I can just add to that mix."
The biggest challenge for the newcomers figures to be getting comfortable with new systems, being able to simply react to developments on the ice without stopping to think about what they should do.
"I don't know how long it's going to take to be able to just go out there and shut the brain off and play," Marleau said, adding that taking part in a practice was "a huge help" in that regard.
Crosby, for one, feels Marleau will settle in -- and be able to contribute -- quickly.
"He's still a great skater," Crosby said. "With the way we play, I think he'll really enjoy playing for us."
Marleau, 40, has a rich resume, with just a single conspicuous absence.
"He's accomplished almost everything in the game, with the exception of the ultimate prize," Sullivan said. "Our hope is that he's going to help us achieve our common goal."
That, of course, is to win another Stanley Cup, which Sullivan feels became a more attainable goal because of the acquisitions Jim Rutherford made as the deadline approached.
"We're real excited," he said. "We feel like we're a better team today than we were yesterday. Or two weeks ago, for that matter, with some of the trades Jim was able to make for us. He always seems to find ways to make us more competitive and give us an opportunity to contend."