O'Connor, Lafferty fighting for shot after Rodrigues' injury

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Evan Rodrigues became the latest addition to a growing list of Penguins to receive the "longer-term" designation after sustaining an injury.

Mike Sullivan didn't provide any other specifics after Monday's practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex other than reiterating that Rodrigues' injury is a lower-body injury. 

Rodrigues sustained the injury in Sunday night's game against the Rangers in a collision with the Rangers' Filip Chytil. It appeared to be a knee injury, with Rodrigues' knee bending in a way that knees probably shouldn't be bending. 

With Rodrigues ruled out for the foreseeable future, the attention turns to the two forwards remaining on the Penguins' taxi squad: Sam Lafferty and Drew O'Connor.

Both Lafferty and O'Connor joined the Penguins for practice on Monday and spent time on the wings of the fourth line, alongside center Mark Jankowski. In the two line rushes that line took during practice, O'Connor was on the left wing both times. Colton Sceviour was on the right wing on the first run, and Lafferty replaced him on the second run. 

One -- or maybe even both, after seeing the way the line rushes worked out -- will be in the lineup when the Penguins face the Bruins Tuesday night in Boston. A clue that that O'Connor might be in the lineup was that he worked with the second power-play unit for the duration of the special teams work.

If he does play, it'll be his first NHL game in just his first season out of college.

"We'll see what happens, but it's definitely an exciting thought to think about," O'Connor said of potentially playing his first NHL game this week. "We'll see how it goes this trip. It's just excitement, I'm sure there will be a little bit of nerves if that does happen. But definitely excitement."

O'Connor was a late bloomer, going undrafted largely in part due to his size at the time. As an 18-year-old, he was only 5 feet 8 and had aspirations to be a walk on for NCAA Division III Hobart College or to play for its club team. A Dartmouth coach then discovered O'Connor in juniors and recruited him. O'Connor (literally) grew quickly, shooting up 7 inches in just three years, now 6 feet 3, and developing into a legitimate power forward.

"It's been kind of a long journey, I guess," O'Connor said. "There was a point in time that I was just battling to get onto a college team. To be in this position, I'm very thankful. I think it's just all the work I put in paying off potentially. It's definitely a cool spot to be in right now. ... Obviously, the goal was to come in and be a player that's in the lineup for the Penguins this year. So, we'll see if that happens. Just having that goal in the back of my mind, continuing to work every day had kind of been my mentality."

Meanwhile, Lafferty is fighting to get back in the lineup after being scratched for the past three games after Kasperi Kapanen was added to the lineup. When Lafferty was removed from the lineup last week, Mike Sullivan spoke about Lafferty needing to become more reliable.

"When I look at his game, I think for Sam to be a consistent NHL player in the lineup every night, I think he just has to bring more consistency to his game," Sullivan said then. "When Sam’s at his best, he brings an element of reckless abandon to his approach. He can really skate, he puts pressure on defensemen, he has good size and strength. He can bring a physical dimension to our team. And when he’s reliably defensively and he’s trustworthy, he’s a real valuable player for us.”

Sullivan said much of the same on Monday, but also gave a clear example of how he'd like to see Lafferty play. 

"We've talked to (Lafferty) about what our expectations are and how we feel he can be an impact player in the NHL," he said. "We talked to Sam about consistency of play, we talked about bringing energy to the rink, utilizing his speed on both sides of the puck. I've talked to Sam a lot about Brandon Tanev's game, for example. (Tanev) is a guy that has done a great job of understanding how to leverage his strengths. I think Sam has a lot of similarities, similar attributes to Tanev. He can really skate, he's got a physical dimension to his game, he creates through his foot speed, and he can wreak havoc. He can create chaos out there. And opportunity presents itself through that."

I asked Lafferty on Monday what the message has been from the coaching staff over the last week when it comes to what he needs to do to get back into the lineup, and it was similar to what Sullivan told reporters.

"It's just playing to my strengths," he said. "Play fast, play physical. When I get an opportunity, making sure I finish my hits and be responsible defensively. Just doing those things consistently is important. ... I think I know what I need to do. I think the blueprint for me is pretty simple, it's just a matter of going out and executing. To be honest, I feel pretty good about my game. Whenever I get another chance, I feel good about it. I'm prepared to play to my strengths and help the team."

Over these past three games, Lafferty said that it's helped to have a different perspective in watching the games, and that it's allowed him to pick up on little things that he wouldn't have seen from ice level.

The door is open for either player to earn a shot in this lineup.

"One thing I will say about our coaching staff is we believe in giving players opportunities to help this team win and get better," Sullivan said. "We're trying to put the best 12 forwards and six defensemen on the ice each and every night. Whether they're young, whether they're experienced really doesn't matter. It's more about who is going to help us win. That's the question that we try to answer. That's the question that I pose to the coaching staff on a daily basis. And then we drill down in to details, and specifics, and roles and the pros and cons of all the players and all of the scenarios. And ultimately I try to make the best decision for the team."

MORE FROM PRACTICE

• Taxi squad defenseman Kevin Czuczman also joined the main group for practice, which I see as more of a result of him being the only other taxi squad skater other than Lafferty and O'Connor, rather than an indication that he might play anytime soon. He rotated through all the defense pairings and didn't have a regular partner.

• These were the full lines and pairings: 

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Zucker-Malkin-Kapanen
McCann-Blueger-Tanev
O'Connor-Jankowski-Sceviour/Lafferty

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

• That still has John Marino, a righty, paired with another righty in Cody Ceci, forcing Marino to his off side. I asked Marino after practice what the challenges are in playing on his off side on the pairing.

"There's a couple of little things that you just kind of have to be aware of," he said. "Sometimes puck get stuck on the boards when you're on your backhand. You have to be aware of where the forecheck is coming in, where the center is, and you kind of just adjust as you go. It depends on what the situation is."

Marino said that he played a little on the left side in college, and he also did briefly last season, so it wasn't much of an adjustment for him this year. 

• Marino also spoke on his season as a whole. 

"I think it's been some ups and downs, obviously," he said. "Would have liked to have more productivity for sure, but each game you're building off of, you're going back and you look at the film, talk to the coaches and see what you can work on. We're six games in, we have a long way to go. Each game is important, so you just take it one step at a time."

• Top power play: Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust

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

• Sullivan reiterated that he isn't worried about Malkin's struggles through this early portion of the season.

"Geno's had moments where he's been real good," Sullivan said. "And he's had others where he hasn't been at his best. But I think it's a matter of time here before Geno finds his game consistently. This guy is a proven talent in this league. He had a great year last year, one of the leading points-per-game guys in the league, if I'm not mistaken. We know what he's capable of, so we're just trying to encourage him and help him through the process. We're also trying to surround him with the right people that can help him capture his very best game. The expectations on Geno were so high, we all have them, because of how he's performed for a decade-plus with the Penguins. And no one has higher expectations than Geno himself. He knows what he's capable of, we're just trying to encourage him, help him through the process. But I feel very confident that Geno's going to find his game."

• Czuczman, O'Connor, and Teddy Blueger stayed out late after practice working on various skills, including tip-ins and one-timers with bouncing or rolling pucks. One would kneel on the ice and toss or roll the puck to the player shooting a couple of times, then they'd switch. 

• Blueger, always one of the last players on the ice after practice, stayed out even later on his own, just skating back and forth like this even after the rink workers took the nets away. He only got off the ice when the doors opened for the Zamboni to come out to prepare for the kids practice that was taking place afterward.

• The Penguins wore gold helmets in practice, which may have been a result of the practice helmets being packed up for the road trip, although I don't know for sure. The gold helmets have the same stickers as the home helmets, with a black base and white PPG lettering.

• You can get a look another look at those helmets in the highlights from today's practice: