CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Penguins have won four games in a row, and have just one regulation loss in their past 14.
They are first in the Metropolitan Division and tied with Tampa Bay for second place in the overall standings, trailing only Colorado.
But impressive as they have been much of the time, the Penguins obviously are not content, because Mike Sullivan reconfigured his second and third lines for practice Wednesday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
He kept the Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust and Zach Aston-Reese-Brian Boyle-Dominik Simon units intact, but put Jeff Carter and Danton Heinen on Evgeni Malkin's wings and had Brock McGinn and Kasperi Kapanen flanking Evan Rodrigues.
Previously, McGinn and Kapanen had been with Malkin, while the third line had been Heinen-Carter-Rodrigues.
The objective of the changes, Sullivan said, is pretty basic: To manufacture more consistent offense, presumably so that the Penguins aren't as dependent on the Crosby line as they have been of late.
"Just more sustained offense," he said. "Just more sustained play. I just think that with what we've had here over the last two games, we're not getting, in our estimation, enough sustained (offensive-)zone time that I think helps us create (offensive balance). So we're trying some different combinations to try to generate that.
"The good news for us is, we have some versatility in our lineup, where we can move people from wing to the center, and vice versa, in order to try to create some combinations that give us the balance we're looking for. We're going to explore a couple of different options. Nothing's etched in stone, but that's something we're looking at."
While Sullivan did not commit to using those combinations when the Penguins face the Maple Leafs Thursday at 7:08 p.m. at Scotiabank Arena, the new configurations figure to remain together for at least a little while. A few shifts, anyway.
Carter was deployed on Malkin's left side during a western road trip last month, when Malkin rejoined the lineup after recovering from offseason knee surgery, and they seemed to mesh nicely.
"I played a few games with (Malkin) and things went well," Carter said.
Coaxing some more goals out of Kapanen, who has just one in his past 16 games, likely is one of the primary motivations for overhauling the Nos. 2 and 3 lines, and Rodrigues said he believes his new group could be productive.
"It seems like it will be a good line," he said. "I've had a lot of success with (Kapanen) this year and in the past. I think we work really well together, because we both like to play a high-octane, fun, (go) north type of game.
"(McGinn) obviously is a guy who is extremely reliable, was on our great fourth line. But I think he has a lot of offense that he shows spurts of. If we can just go out there and be confident with the puck, we should have success."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• Rodrigues, on the challenges posed by Toronto's top line, which has Auston Matthews between Michael Bunting and Mitch Marner: "The big key is making them play defense. ... Toronto is a team that likes to play high-octane offense and kind of blow the zone, so the more we can hem them in in their (defensive) zone, it will be beneficial for us."
• McGinn briefly left the Penguins' 5-4 overtime victory against the Flyers Tuesday after being struck in the hand by a shot during the third period, but went through Wednesday's practice with no apparent problem.
• The Penguins have scored a league-high 14 empty-net goals, and Carter didn't hesitate when asked about the significance of that. "It's a good sign, because it means we're leading games, right?" he said.
• Sullivan, on the offense Boyle's line has generated during the past few games: "Offensively, they're all a little bit different in what they bring, but sometimes the complementary skills sets, because they are different, can make a line effective, offensively. Dominik is a very good playmaker. He's really stiff on the puck. He's good on the forecheck. Brian's really good at the net-front, his size and his strength. He's got a good stick that can deflect pucks; the rebound goal he gets in (New Jersey) is an example of it. And Zach, I think, is just a good traffic player. He's good in the corners, he's good at the net-front."
• Teddy Blueger, who is recovering from a broken jaw, worked out on the ice for about an hour with skills coach Ty Hennes before the team practice. Sullivan said there is no update on the timeframe for his return, which was set at 6-8 weeks after he underwent surgery Jan. 24.
