Marino’s inconsistency shows

As the only Penguins defenseman to play in all 23 games, second-year blueliner John Marino has appeared all over the lineup. Top pair to bottom pair. Natural side and off side. As many as 30-plus minutes and as few as 18:20.

His performance, likewise, has spanned the spectrum.

At times, he has looked every bit like the steady, poised player that wowed the Penguins in his rookie year to earn a big contract extension that will carry a $4.4 million average annual value when it kicks in next season. Other times? Not so much. With Brian Dumoulin back from injury, the Penguins finally have all six defensemen from their Game 1 lineup healthy. Of those six, Marino has posted the lowest expected goals percentage of the regulars at 0.43, according to Natural Stat Trick, to go along with 3 points (all assists) and a minus-2 rating.

“We’re just trying to help John establish more consistency in his game on both sides of the puck,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “This year, he’s sometimes fallen victim of trying to do a little bit too much with the puck. I think when John’s at his best, there’s an element of simplicity to his game that he just takes what the game gives him and he defends hard. When he does that, he’s a very effective defenseman for us.”

While Marino might sometimes be trying to do too much, it’s fair to point out that maybe the Penguins have also asked too much of a second-year pro — not that they had much of a choice when their blue line was decimated by injury.

Forced to play his off side in a top-four role earlier this year due to the club’s injury situation, Marino weathered some rough moments. It appeared Marino had returned to form recently when he began playing his natural side regularly.

But in a loss Thursday to the Flyers, Marino found himself in the middle of several miscommunications that ended with the puck in the back of the Penguins net. He registered just the second minus-3 rating of his career, the first since his eighth game as a pro.

As a result, Sullivan dialed back the sophomore’s minutes in a 4-3 win Saturday over the Flyers. Marino officially was listed in the third pair alongside Marcus Pettersson, where he logged a season-low 18:20 of ice time.

Notebook

On Sunday night, Marino again was listed on the lineup in the bottom pair.

Moments like this are natural in the evolution of any player, especially a young defenseman. While the Penguins would like him to clean up some missteps, Sullivan still believes Marino has the mobility and intelligence to be one of the club’s best defensemen.

“We have a lot of faith in John,” Sullivan said. “He’s a very good defenseman. We’re just trying to help him establish a little bit more consistency to his game this year.”

Playing ‘extremely well’

Sticking on the right side of the blue line, the Penguins can manage Marino’s minutes thanks to the continued evolution in Cody Ceci’s game.

Signed this offseason to a low-cost, low-risk $1.25 million deal, Ceci’s season has followed the opposite trajectory. A player initially penciled in for the third pair — or even the press box — has risen into a top-four role for two consecutive games.

“I think Cody has played extremely well,” Sullivan said.

A healthy scratch in just his second game with the Penguins, it took an injury for Ceci to make his way back into the lineup. From that rocky start, Ceci has emerged to use his big body in the defensive zone as one of the club’s best players in front of his own net. Offensively, his mobility and instincts are noticeable when he’s joining the rush.

“He joins the rush as well as any of the defensemen we’ve got,” Sullivan said. “Even when he doesn’t get the puck, just presenting that four-man attack is so critically important to allowing our forwards to gain the blue line. It backs defensemen off by having that fourth man in the rush.”

Entering Sunday, Ceci had tallied two goals and four assists to go along with a plus-5 rating. While Marino has logged the lowest expected goals percentage of any regular defenseman, Ceci entered Sunday with the secondhighest at 53%. Only Dumoulin (57%) ranks higher in this stat.

It’s no wonder the Penguins have chosen to expand Ceci’s role while limiting Marino’s.

“To a certain extent, no matter what position we play, performance matters,” Sullivan said. “We’re trying to establish some internal competition. We think that’s healthy for our group. The guys that are playing well are going to tend to get a little bit more ice time.”

DeSmith in net

On Sunday night, for just the second time since Feb. 11, backup goalie Casey DeSmith took the net — all 6 feet of him.

While that might not sound short in everyday standards, DeSmith certainly is undersized in the new world of NHL goalies. As the game has evolved, goaltenders across the league have grown considerably with 21 goalies standing 6-4 or taller. Edmonton’s Mikko Koskinen tops the charts at 6-7.

Meanwhile, just three goalies are listed as shorter than DeSmith — Nashville’s Juuse Saros, Dallas’ Anton Khudobin and Boston’s Jaroslav Halak all come in at 5-11.

“I think the goaltending position, probably more so than any position in all of sports, has evolved over the last decade-plus,” Sullivan said, noting the changes in technique, size and athleticism.

“Casey, although he’s not very big, he’s very athletic,” Sullivan said. “I think that’s what allows him to be successful at this level. He’s quickness from post-to-post. His ability to read plays. Understanding when he can be aggressive and take the shooting angle away or when he needs to play a little bit deeper to get across the crease on a backdoor option.”

Lafferty scratched

Second-year forward Sam Lafferty was a healthy scratch Sunday in place of Anthony Angello. The move comes one game after Lafferty’s turnover ended with the puck in the back of the net and a 1-0 lead for the Flyers. Through 17 games, Lafferty has recorded one assist and a minus-8 rating.

‘Playoff environment’

After an emotional threegame series against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Penguins had just a little more than 24 hours to turn the page to the New York Rangers due to the shortened and condensed nature of the season.

“It’s very much a similar circumstance to a playoff environment,” Sullivan said. “You’re trying to learn through the experience. But then you’ve got to be ready to put it behind you, whether you had success or you didn’t have success. Whether it’s positive, whether it’s negative. Then you’ve got to focus on the task at hand and what’s in front of you. That’s the approach that we’ve taken. That’s what we’ll continue to take.”