When Teddy Blueger returned to the Penguins' lineup on Sunday in New Jersey, it bumped center Mark Jankowski from the Penguins' lineup.
It look like Jankowski might get right back into a game on Thursday when the Penguins host the Flyers at PPG Paints Arena.
The injury to Freddy Gaudreau on Sunday created an opening for a bottom-six center. The Penguins didn't have a full morning skate on Thursday, but based on the line combinations in Wednesday's practice, it looks like Jeff Carter will play second-line center and shift Jared McCann over to wing, and it will be Jankowski who replaces Gaudreau in the bottom-six:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Jared McCann-Jeff Carter-Jason Zucker
Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Evan Rodrigues
Radim Zohorna-Mark Jankowski-Colton Sceviour
Jankowski has struggled for much of the season, but picked things up as of late, scoring two goals and four assists in his last four games before being bumped from the lineup. He's been better with faceoffs, too. He's won 55.7 percent of all draws over his last four games, an improvement over his success rate of 44.7 percent up until that point.
"When Mark's at his very best, he's a guy that helps us in a number of different ways," Mike Sullivan said on Thursday. "More specifically, he can be a guy that helps us in the faceoff circles. He can be a guy that helps us on the penalty-kill with his shot-blocking, and his reads and his attention to detail and his 200-foot clears. He can help us with momentum by putting pressure on our opponents with the forecheck and hanging onto pucks in the offensive zone, and then he's a reliable, defending center-iceman that can be hard to play against down low."
The Penguins are hoping to see that version of Jankowski when he gets back into the lineup.
"Those are the expectations we have of Mark and the line that he plays on," Sullivan said. "Those are also opportunities for Mark to help us in areas that we think make us a more difficult team to play against."
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