Live Wire: Jarry in goal ... O'Connor summoned from taxi squad ... Rodrigues out 'longer-term'

BOSTON -- Welcome to our Penguins Live Wire, a round-the-clock feature that offers news that's fast, friendly to use and fun. Older Live Wire updates can be found here.

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➤ SLUMP-BUSTERS? 12:05 a.m. Tuesday: The Penguins will be looking to break an 0-7-1 streak in Boston when they face the Bruins at TD Garden, but the series hasn't been as lopsided in recent years as that might suggest, because the Penguins have fared well against the Bruins at PPG Paints Arana.

"Both teams have been very competitive," Mike Sullivan told a midday video conference. "Both teams have had deep rosters. If you look at Boston's roster, every line can play against anybody. We feel as though our lineup has been the same way."

• Defenseman Mike Matheson was one of 17 players to participate in the Penguins' optional game-day skate, but Sullivan said the prognosis that he will be out "longer term" because of an unspecified injury has not changed. Still, he said Matheson going on the ice is "encouraging and suggests that he's getting closer to a return to play."

• Sullivan endorsed the multiple-game series that are a feature of the 2020-21 NHL schedule. "I like it a lot," he said. "We've talked about it as a coaching staff. We all like it. ... There are some emotions that carry over, game-to-game. Logistically, I think it make sense."

➤ JARRY STARTING, 11:45 a.m. Tuesday: Tristan Jarry will make his third consecutive start in goal when the Penguins face Boston tonight at TD Garden. He is coming off back-to-back victories against the New York Rangers after losing his first two decisions of the season in Philadelphia. -- Molinari

➤ O'CONNOR PROMOTED, 8:35 a.m. Tuesday: Winger Drew O'Connor has been recalled from the Penguins' taxi squad on an emergency basis. If he plays when the Penguins face Boston tonight at 7:08 at TD Garden, it will be his first game in the NHL. -- Molinari

➤ BEANTOWN SKATES, 1:15 a.m. Tuesday: The Penguins are in Boston for two games, the first of which is tonight, and they'll hit the ice this morning for an optional skate beginning at 10:30 a.m. Mike Sullivan will address reporters at 11:30 a.m. Dave Molinari's in Beantown to cover the series, Taylor Haase had all the practice coverage from yesterday in Cranberry, and all I'm contributing is the podcast below. -- DK

➤ RODRIGUES UPDATE, 1:37 p.m. Monday: In his post-practice session, Mike Sullivan says that Evan Rodrigues is out "longer-term" with a lower-body injury. -- Taylor

➤ BACK TO PRACTICE, 11:52 a.m. Monday: The Penguins are about to practice here at the Lemieux Complex. I'll keep you posted below. -- Taylor

• Evan Rodrigues is not on the ice for practice after being injured in last night.

• Sam Lafferty, Drew O'Connor, and Kevin Czuczman are all on the ice for practice, the only skaters who are left on the taxi squad. The first two are the forwards who are in line to replace Rodrigues if he can't play next game. Since Czuczman then can't have a solo taxi squad skate, it makes sense that he's with the main group too. Mike Sullivan also spoke highly of Czuczman after yesterday's morning skate. 

• Here are the lines and pairings: 

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Zucker-Malkin-Kapanen
McCann-Blueger-Tanev
O'Connor, Lafferty, and Sceviour rotated as Jankowski's wingers on the fourth line

Dumoulin-Letang
Marino-Ceci
Joseph-Ruhwedel
(Czuczman rotating in)

• Top power play: Letang, Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Rust

• Second power play: Marino, O'Connor, Kapanen, Zucker, McCann

➤ POULIN TRADED IN QMJHL, 8:50 p.m. Sunday: The Sherbrooke Phoenix in the QMJHL traded Penguins prospect Samuel Poulin to the Val-d'Or Foreurs, home of another top Penguins forward prospect in Nathan Legare. The two will finish out their junior careers as teammates.

Legare seemed to approve of the trade on Twitter.

Poulin scored three goals and three assists in five games with Sherbrooke this season. -- Taylor

NEW LINES AT SKATE, 12:41 p.m. Sunday: The Penguins' second line of Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, and Jason Zucker has combined for just one even strength goal in five games. I asked Rust after Sunday's skate what he believes hasn't been clicking for that line.

"I think we were just maybe a second late, or we had two guys going, maybe on three," he said. "I think for us you saw it in the most recent game a couple of nights ago, we had a lot more O-zone shifts, we were close, we were competing on pucks, we were getting shots, getting chances, and I think that was a good sign to build off of. Obviously it's not perfect yet, but we're definitely going in the right direction."

The coaching staff is looking to give the line an extra nudge in the right direction by switching up the line combinations. Jared McCann replaced Zucker on the left wing in the morning skate, and Zucker skated on a line with Teddy Blueger and Kasperi Kapanen. Mark Jankowski centered the other line, with Brandon Tanev and Colton Sceviour on his wings.

"We're trying to find combinations that help us have success and give us the balance we need," Mike Sullivan said of the changes. "There's a number of things we've discussed when we're putting line combinations or defense pairs together. We've kept certain line combinations together here for a little while, and we feel at this particular point in time that a little bit of change might be good for the group. So we'll see where it goes. ... My sense is we'll probably tweak some of these lines until we get what we look for."

The changes, of course, still don't have Kapanen skating on the top line alongside Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel yet, as he plays in his third game of the season tonight. Sullivan reiterated though that putting Kapanen on that line is still the plan, and that they're still easing him into the lineup.

"I think (Kapanen) is making progress," Sullivan said. "Kappy's trying different things here. Hes's trying to get up to speed from a conditioning standpoint. He's trying to acclimate himself in five-on-five play, which he hasn't played in in a long time. And he's trying to learn the style of play that the Penguins are trying to play, which my sense is very different than where he's come from. So we're throwing a lot at him in a short period of time. I think he's making progress each and every day, and we're trying to watch that process. We're trying to accomplish a number of different things all at the same time. ... It's no secret, I've spoken about it already, that in the big picture the objective is at some point here that we'd like to get him with Sid and Jake because we think his speed dimension and some of the attributes he brings will help that line and be complementary to that line. But it's going to take a little bit of time here to put him in a position to be successful, and to put that line in a position to be successful." -- Taylor

➤ RANGERS SKATE, 12:30 p.m. Sunday: Rangers coach David Quinn says that Igor Shesterkin will be in net tonight. Jack Johnson and forward Brendan Lemieux are out, defenseman Brendan Smith and forward Colin Blackwell will play.  "Jack was solid for us the first few games. He struggled for us a little bit the other night," Quinn said. "Guys have to play well to stay in." -- Taylor

➤ MORNING SKATE, 10:30 a.m. Sunday: The Penguins' skate is about to get underway. I'll keep you posted below. -- Taylor

• Here are the lines and pairings:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rodrigues
McCann-Malkin-Rust
Zucker-Blueger-Kapanen
Tanev-Jankowski-Sceviour

Dumoulin-Letang
Marino-Ceci
Joseph-Ruhwedel

• Tristan Jarry was the first goaltender off the ice, an indication that he will be back in net tonight. The skate was pretty brief, only about 25 minutes.

• Bryan Rust, Cody Ceci, and Mike Sullivan are speaking next. I'll write about the takeaways from what they said afterward.

➤ BLUESHIRTS AGAIN, 1:52 a.m. Sunday: Anyone else getting the hang of this schedule? Play a team once, play 'em again. Nothing else to it. So tonight, it's Penguins and Rangers again, 7:08 p.m. faceoff. Both teams will have a morning skate, the home team at 10:30 a.m. and the visitors an hour later. We'll find out then whether or not Mike Sullivan goes right back to Tristan Jarry, which I'm expecting he will. Taylor Haase will cover the skates, and I'll join her tonight for the game.

In the meantime, here's the online-only 'Overtime' edition of WPXI-TV's live '11 On The Ice' last night, in which I was joined by Phil Bourque and Jenna Harner for good hockey talk. -- DK

➤ WBS RELEASES SCHEDULE, 1 p.m. Friday: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins announced their 32-game season schedule and training camp roster on Friday, which can both be seen below. Training camp opens Jan. 25, and the season opens Feb. 6. -- Taylor

➤ JARRY, CECI, JOSEPH GET CALL, 11:40 a.m. Friday: Tristan Jarry will get his first start in a week when the Penguins face the Rangers tonight at 7:08 at PPG Paints Arena.

Defenseman Cody Ceci will get into a game for the first time since the opener in Philadelphia Jan. 13.

And defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph apparently will make his NHL debut, although Mike Sullivan pointedly rejected a question about with whom Joseph would be paired because "we're not going to share who we choose to put together."

Sullivan said he decided to go back to Jarry, the Penguins' No. 1 goalie, because "he's had a couple of real good practices. He's a real good goalie. We believe in him. We know he's a very capable goalie. He had an opportunity to have a couple of real good practices and just get his mindset where it needs to be and be ready to stop the puck."

Ceci played 16 minutes, 29 seconds in his lone appearance so far. He was on the ice for one goal by each team, and recorded one hit and one blocked shot.

"We thought Cody played a solid game in Philly for us," Sullivan said. "We expect him to be that reliable, trustworthy, solid defending defenseman. We know he's capable of that.

"He's trying to get used to a new environment. He's trying to get used to a new style of play, from a system standpoint, or a tactical standpoint, so he's dealing with a lot of change. ... Our expectation is that he's going to be a big part of this group."

• Sullivan praised the professionalism of Jack Johnson, the Rangers defenseman who contract was bought out by the Penguins after last season. "I had a very good relationship with Jack," Sullivan said. "He's a great pro. He's a great teammate. He has great leadership skills."

• The Rangers, Sullivan said, "are fast. They're explosive. They've got a balanced attack and we think they are a much-improved team, not only from a personnel standpoint but also through the experiences they went through last year."

• New York, like the Penguins, had an optional game-day skate. -- Molinari

➤ JARRY TO START, 11:15 a.m. Friday: Tristan Jarry will start tonight, Mike Sullivan says. -- Taylor

➤  JOSEPH PROMOTED, 9:30 a.m. Friday: The Penguins have added defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph to their major-league roster, promoting him from their taxi squad on an emergency basis. Mike Sullivan has not confirmed his personnel plans for the Penguins' game against the New York Rangers tonight at 7:08 at PPG Paints Arena, but Joseph is expected to make his NHL debut then. Joseph, 21, was acquired from Arizona in the Phil Kessel trade in 2019 and spent last season with the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. -- Molinari

➤ FRIDAY SKATE OPTIONAL, 6:30 p.m. Thursday: The Penguins have made their game-day skate Friday optional, and announced that PPG Paints Arena will not be open to the media when it takes place. Mike Sullivan is scheduled to conduct a virtual press conference around 11:15 a.m. -- Molinari

➤ JOSEPH SPEAKS, 3 p.m. Thursday: Pierre-Olivier Joseph spoke with reporters after Thursday's practice. Here's the full session. -- Taylor

➤ SIGHTS AND SOUNDS, 2:55 p.m. Thursday: Here's video from the Penguins' practice on Thursday, courtesy of the team. -- Taylor

➤ SAMSONOV TESTS POSITIVE, 2:40 p.m. Thursday: Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov tested positive for coronavirus, according to a report by Samantha Pell of the Washington Post. The Capitals received news of the positive test on Tuesday night after the Capitals' loss to the Penguins. Samsonov was a backup that night, but he was in net against the Penguins on Sunday's game. 

The Capitals were fined Wednesday by the NHL for four players -- Samsonov, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Orlov -- breaking NHL COVID protocol rules and spending time together unmasked in a hotel room. NHL protocol permits players to spend time together off the ice in the hotel, but only in designated lounges and while wearing masks. 

Contract tracing after Samsonov's positive test was how it was discovered that the four players broke protocol.

"I know that there was a positive case and through their tracing and their tracking the players were honest with what they did," Peter Laviolette said Thursday. "I don’t know the exact chain myself of how things happened, but there was a determination that there were four players that were close contacts and from there they now have to quarantine.”

The four players are now in quarantine and will likely miss at least the next four games, Laviolette said Thursday. Those are four home games, two against the Sabres and two against the Islanders.

Ovechkin's wife Nastya posted on Instagram Thursday that Ovechkin and Orlov both previously tested positive for the antibodies. -- Taylor

➤ UPDATES FROM SULLIVAN, 1:18 p.m. Thursday: Juuso Riikola is out "longer-term," Sullivan said after last game that he was dealing with an upper-body injury. Marcus Pettersson is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Chad Ruhwedel will be available tomorrow after missing today's practice due to the birth of his first child. Sullivan wouldn't say for sure whether Pierre-Olivier Joseph would be in the lineup, citing a general policy to not disclose game personnel decisions this early before a game. -- Taylor

➤ KAPANEN ON TOP LINE, 11:15 a.m. Thursday: Kasperi Kapanen, who made his Penguins debut Tuesday night, is skating on the top like with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel at the Penguins' practice in Cranberry today.

Mike Sullivan's other combos:

Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Bryan Rust
Jared McCann-Mark Jankowski-Brandon Tanev
Drew O'Connor/Evan Rodrigues-Teddy Blueger-Colton Sceviour

Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
John Marino-Cody Ceci
Kevin Czuczman-P.-O. Joseph

PP1
Letang, Crosby, Malkin, Rust, Guentzel

PP2
Marino, Zucker, McCann, Rodrigues, O'Connor -- Molinari

RUHWEDEL GETS DAY OFF, 11:05 a.m. Thursday: Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel has been excused from today's practice in Cranberry after becoming a first-time father, the team announced. His absence could make it difficult to read too much into the defense pairings that will be used during the workouts, as the Penguins try to work through injuries to Mike Matheson, Marcus Pettersson and Juuso Riikola. -- Molinari