The Penguins shook up their line combinations at the morning skate ahead of Tuesday's game against the Oilers, the penultimate game of the regular season.
Mike Sullivan moved Bryan Rust back up to the top line, putting Rickard Rakell back on Evgeni Malkin's wing. Brock McGinn took Jason Zucker's spot on Malkin's other wing. Kasperi Kapanen appears to be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch Sunday in Philadelphia, making Brian Boyle the odd man out:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Danton Heinen - Teddy Blueger - Evan Rodrigues
Rust, obviously, has been Sidney Crosby's winger for most of the year. He said that being familiar with either center, he knows how he has to play and which small changes he needs to make to his game depending on who his center is.
"You've just got to know what they bring, know how they like to play," Rust said. "But you also play your own game, do what you do to be successful. But there's definitely little things you've got to tweak back and forth between those two."
When Rust was playing alongside Malkin, one of the big reasons was what Rust brought to that line defensively.
"There's been times when (Malkin) has been really good (at five-on-five)," Sullivan said last week. "I think his best games were when he was playing with Rusty. I think Rusty brings a certain dimension to that line that that helps Geno and whoever we have on the other flank with them be effective. I think Rusty's speed helps his ability to get on the forecheck, his defensive awareness, his play away from the puck. He has good offensive instincts. So I think Rusty's presence on that line certainly helps Geno."
With Rust going back to the top line, the coaching staff was looking for another player with a strong defensive game to play alongside Malkin.
That's where McGinn comes in.
The second line isn't an unfamiliar spot for McGinn. McGinn spent seven games on the second line from Jan. 28 - Feb. 15 during Zucker's absence, although Malkin was sidelined for two of those games.
Sullivan said that if McGinn does play with Malkin, what he brings defensively "would be a lot of the reason why."
"Ginner is a very conscientious player," Sullivan said. "He's a north-south guy, he's good in the battle areas, he's good at the net front, he's good along the wall. He's a very conscientious player defensively. That's what he brings to whatever line we choose to put him on."
While these look to be the line combinations for Tuesday's game, that doesn't mean that these will be the combinations moving forward.
Including tonight, the Penguins have two games remaining in the regular season. They're looking to dress a lineup that gives them the best chance to win these games, but they're also using these games as an opportunity to see line combinations that they haven't seen much of during the year. There hasn't been much opportunity to experiment with line combinations with a complete complement of players, because the Penguins just haven't had a completely healthy group of forwards for more than a handful of games all year.
"It's been difficult for us to get any sort of extended looks at a full healthy lineup," Sullivan said. "The last couple of games, we've had that. So we'll try to balance it as best we can. Ultimately, we hope we fall on some lines that meet the criteria that we're trying to solve. If that's the case, then you may see a lot of consistency in lines. If it's not, then we may tinker with some of the lines to try to create balance and things of that nature that give us the best chance to win."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• The defense pairings remained the same:
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Mike Matheson - Chad Ruhwedel
Marcus Pettersson - John Marino
Nathan Beaulieu - Mark Friedman
• Casey DeSmith was the first goaltender off the ice.
• The coaching staff remains hopeful that Kapanen will be able to find his game after being a healthy scratch last game, just the second time he was healthy scratched all season.
"We believe Kappy is a very capable player," Sullivan said. "He has the ability to be a difference-maker for us. He's shown that in some of his time here, and we're hopeful that's what we're going to get moving forward. Kappy's a really good player. I know he cares a lot. I know it's not from a lack of effort, care, try on his part. This guy is a good teammate. He's a good player. We're trying to find a way to help him capture his best game."
• Rust trimmed his beard in preparation for the playoffs.
"Just trimming it down one more time for the playoffs," he said. "Getting it down a little bit less, because if I would have kept that thing going, I think it would have gotten out of control."
