New defenseman scratched
PHILADELPHIA — The Penguins yanked the new guy out of their lineup Friday for a rematch with the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
It probably wasn’t the one you’re thinking of.
John Marino and Marcus Pettersson were reunited on the second defensive pair. Mike Matheson skated with Chad Ruhwedel on the third. And Cody Ceci, who signed a one-year contract with the Penguins in the offseason, was a healthy scratch for the second game of the season.
“We’re looking for combinations that are complementary of one another that give us a solid group of six that allow us to cast them in certain roles and bring different things to the table,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We have eight defensemen on our active roster that we believe can help us win games on any given night.”
Ceci played 20 shifts in a 6-3 loss Wednesday to the Flyers. He was on the ice for one goal against in that game. The Flyers got another with Ceci in the penalty box. But sitting down Ceci Friday was likely more about Matheson than Ceci.
Matheson was acquired in the Patric Hornqvist trade and has a $4,875,000 cap hit over the next six seasons. That’s a significant investment in the 26-year-old. He had a rocky Penguins debut Wednesday, getting caught out of position a few times and taking a retaliatory penalty that led to a power-play goal for the Flyers.
Playing Ruhwedel alongside Matheson was a reasonable notion with Matheson being dropped to the third pair. Ruhwedel has his limitations, but he is a responsible defender who knows Sullivan’s system well. Theoretically, that should have made things easier for Matheson than partnering with another new guy.
“[Ruhwedel is] a guy that’s really professional. He’s an older guy, a veteran guy. … It’s good to have a guy like this who’s always ready to hop over the boards,” said Kris Letang, adding that Ruhwedel is consistent and “really reliable defensively.”
Sullivan did not make any
changes to his forward lines prior to the game.
Kapanen watch
Sullivan was asked Friday if Kasperi Kapanen, who remains in the NHL’s COVID-19 quarantine protocol, is still on track to join the team over the weekend.
“Barring any setbacks, yeah, he would be available fairly soon here,” he said.
Sullivan said previously that Kapanen’s first COVID-19 test was lSunday, which officially started his mandatory seven-day quarantine. Per the protocol, a player must produce four negative COVID tests, including one on the seventh day, before being permitted to set foot inside the practice facility on the eighth day.
That means Kapanen, if all goes as planned, could rejoin the team Sunday. But one would think the Penguins wouldn’t just throw the winger out on the ice against the Washington Capitals without any practice.
Sullivan declined to say what he needs to see from Kapanen, who was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in August, before putting him in the lineup.
Circle time
The Penguins want to see improvement on faceoffs from Teddy Blueger, who won just 45.1% of his draws last season. Sullivan noted
that it is something the center works hard at.
But Blueger said faceoffs are a tough thing to focus on during the offseason because most training partners aren’t worried about them.
“The skates, you’re usually working on different kinds of skill stuff and you can’t always find guys that are wanting to work on faceoffs [and] you’ve got to have someone who’s willing to drop pucks and stuff,” the 26-year-old said.
He said one way to potentially improve on faceoffs is film study.
Jarry again
Tristan Jarry was back between the pipes for the Penguins, getting another start against Flyers goalie Carter Hart.
The Penguins will be careful not to overwork their No. 1, with 56 games in 16 weeks. But with only six instances of games on consecutive days, they might use Jarry more than what was expected before the schedule was unveiled.
Sullivan would not reveal how many games the Penguins plan to play Jarry and how many would go to backup Casey DeSmith.
Trotman out
The Penguins announced that Zach Trotman had “successful” surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. The defenseman is expected to be out for four to six weeks.