NEWARK, N.J. -- The Penguins' bottom six hasn't had a ton of consistency this season regarding performance or personnel.
However, now less than 10 days from the end of the regular season, lines and combinations have remained relatively consistent over this most recent stretch.
Within that is the duo of Ryan Poehling and Danton Heinen on the third line. The two of them are forming a quietly effective combo.
During 110 minutes with both skaters on the ice together at 5-on-5 this season, the Penguins have broken even in goals (5-5), but they boast a plus-31 advantage in shot attempts and a plus-20 advantage in scoring chances while controlling 60.9% of the expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick.
"Poehls, I think, is just a real good two-way center-iceman," Mike Sullivan said following the Penguins' morning skate at the Prudential Center Tuesday. "He's big, he can skate, he's long. Defensively, he leans on guys and he has good awareness. He has great stick detail, he has awareness away from the puck. But when he's in on the puck battles, his size and his strength and his skating ability, I think, helps us defensively.
"Offensively, he's a guy that we think there's another level to his game. And I think if he didn't have as many injuries as he's had this year, if he had an opportunity to play in more games and get more traction, I believe he's a guy that has another level offensively."
It's clear Poehling has made a good impression on the coaching staff this season despite limited action. He's worked his way up to the third-line center spot after playing on the left wing of the fourth line for a decent chunk of time early on.
As for Heinen, he's had a disappointing season relative to what he did a year ago, but he can still be a solid depth player heading into the postseason.
"Heino's a guy, as you guys know, that has good offensive instincts," Sullivan continued. "He's shown an ability to be able to finish and score in this league. He had 18 goals for us last year. The puck hasn't gone in the net as much for him this year, but he has that ability to score. When you look at those three guys together as a line (including Mikael Granlund), they're a line that can be conscientious defensively, we can play them in defensive situations if we have to -- D-zone starts, for example. We have trust that they can play against other teams' top players, but there's also an offensive dimension to the line."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• Marcus Pettersson skated with the team (non-contact) for the first time since landing on long-term injured reserve. During line rushes he skated on an extra defense pairing with Jan Rutta, who remains non-contact, as well, while he rehabs from injury. Rutta is eligible to return at any time, while Pettersson cannot be activated until the final game of the regular season on April 13 in Columbus.
• After the skate, Pettersson and Rutta stayed on the ice for additional work. They were joined by Nick Bonino and Dmitry Kulikov, who are also working their way back from injury. Sullivan expects each of them to return before the end of the regular season.
• Tristan Jarry will get the start in goal for the Penguins. He made his last start on Saturday at home against the Bruins, allowing four goals on 35 shots against. He said he was feeling fine afterward, but it's worth mentioning he was clearly in some discomfort late in the game after diving across his crease to make a save. On the season, he has a 22-11-6 record with a .909 save percentage and 2.93 goals against average. He has saved 0.3 goals above expected based on the quality of chances he's faced, meaning he's performed as a roughly league-average goalie.
• Vitek Vanecek will man the crease for the Devils. He was yanked in his last start after allowing four goals on 21 shots against through two periods. He's 30-11-4 this season with a .908 save percentage, 2.52 goals against average and 8.7 goals saved above expected.
• There were no changes to the Penguins' workflow during the skate. They're expected to ice the same lineup as they did in Sunday's victory over the Flyers.
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen - Ryan Poehling - Mikael Granlund
Drew O'Connor - Jeff Carter - Josh Archibald
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
P.O Joseph - Jeff Petry
Mark Friedman - Chad Ruhwedel
Marcus Pettersson - Jan Rutta
• There weren't any changes to the power-play personnel, either.
PP1: Crosby, Guentzel, Rakell, Malkin, Letang
PP2: Carter, Zucker, Rust, Granlund, Petry
• Here's the Devils' workflow from their morning skate:
Tomas Tatar - Nico Hischier - Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier - Erik Haula - Jesper Boqvist
Miles Wood - Michael McLeod - Nathan Bastian
Kevin Bahl - Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves - John Marino
Jonas Siegenthaler - Damon Severson
• Goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist has signed an amateur tryout contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the stretch run. Taylor Haase has more on that here.
• Puck drops at 7:08 p.m. in Newark Tuesday night. Taylor and I will have your coverage of the game.