Guentzel Continuing to Be Evaluated; Will Travel on Long Road Trip
GUENTZEL MISSES PRACTICE
Jake Guentzel was the only player absent after leaving in the third period of Thursday's win over Los Angeles with an upper-body injury.
First, he was the recipient of a late, high hit from Kings forward Brendan Lemieux. Then, Guentzel got struck with a shot that left him bleeding. He headed to the locker room and did not return.
"You guys saw him get hit in the ear with the puck. He's continuing to be evaluated. He will travel with us," head coach Mike Sullivan said.
With Guentzel unavailable, Danton Heinen slotted into his spot on the top line alongside the captain. Sullivan said Heinen's offensive instincts mean that he is always in the conversation for potential top-six playing time regardless of what complement of players they have on any given night.
If he does get an opportunity with Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell, Sullivan believes that Heinen - who scored a career-high 18 goals last season - could make the most of it.
"I think he could play the type of game that Sid likes to play," Sullivan said. "He's good in
tight areas, he can play a give-and-go game down low. He's great in traffic, he has finishing capability. So, I just think Danton's had a really good start to our season. He's played extremely well."
Brock McGinn slotted into the spot Heinen vacated on the third line. Teddy Blueger, who wore a no-contact jersey and has yet to make his season debut while dealing with an upper-body injury, centered the fourth line as the Penguins currently do not have an extra forward. When asked if they would call anyone up, Sullivan said that would be a better question for general manager Ron Hextall.
Here is the workflow Pittsburgh used…
Heinen-Crosby-Rakell
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
McGinn-Carter-Kapanen
Poehling-Blueger-Archibald
Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Petry
Joseph-Rutta
GOOD TIMING FOR A ROAD TRIP
After a 3-0-1 start to the year, with all three victories coming at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins are playing 16 of their next 19 games on the road. They left today for this trip that begins in Columbus; then goes to western Canada with stops in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver; and then finishes in Seattle.
The timing of it is great when it comes to the Penguins building chemistry and gelling as a group, as they'll spend a lot of time together over these next nine days.
"It's always a challenging trip, so to have it early on and have the guys together - we've been here at home a lot," Crosby said. "So whether it's new guys or just the group as a whole, to have the opportunity, I think is important for any team. We'll try to use it that way."
Speaking of the new guys, all three additions had a big night on Thursday, with forward Ryan Poehling and defensemen Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta all scoring their first goals in black and gold against the Kings.
"It's awesome," Tristan Jarry said. "To have all three guys do it in one game, I think it builds a lot of confidence."
And now, they're going to build bonds with their teammates through traveling and meals - that may even include a nice contract extension dinner or two.
"I think it's always nice to get on the road for an extended period and get to know everybody," Petry said. "Obviously, when we leave here, everyone goes home to their families or whatnot. So it's nice to be with just the guys, go out to dinner with the guys and create that bond."
The Penguins are an incredibly welcoming group, which starts with the captain. But they are also a pretty particular group who's very routine-based, so it's always fun to ask the new guys early in the season where they're fitting in.
On the plane, Rutta is sitting alongside his D partner P.O Joseph "in a chair that doesn't go down. That's where they put the pigeons," he joked. Since there wasn't a lot of turnover from last year's roster, Petry and Poehling - who came over from Montreal together - ended up being seatmates. "I've got a familiar face," smiled Petry, who used to sit with Shea Weber.
None of them play cards, which is probably for the best since spots in the two games across the aisle from each other are so hard to come by. Josh Archibald used to play in it during his first stint with the Penguins, but now he just sits more towards the back with Casey DeSmith.
Rutta cracked that it saves him money to play, so he's good with it, and Petry said he's never really been into it. He said he passed up his opportunities, and that he'd rather just play games on his phone or watch movies or read books.
And finally, when it comes to the all-important order that the team takes the ice - "three years Super League!" - Rutta said he's just trying to stay out of Kris Letang's way. For Petry, "I just kind of stood in the hallway the first game and watched," he admitted with a laugh. "I filed in behind Guentzy, and it seemed to not mess anybody up."
