Kapanen in line to rejoin lineup quickly
McGinn injury could bring winger back after one game as scratch
Kasperi Kapanen’s stint as a healthy scratch could be overafter just one game.
During Penguins practice on Saturday, the speedy winger jumped back into the lineup on the third line. He skated on Jeff Carter’s left wing as a replacement for Brock McGinn, who is out week-to-week with an upperbody injury. Valtteri Puustinen was the third wheelon that line.
Kapanen was also part of the second power-play unit, anothersign he could be back in the lineup Sunday against theCarolina Hurricanes.
“By no means, because we madethis decision [to scratch him], does it change how we feel about Kappy,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said after Friday’s win against the Vegas Golden Knights. “Our hope is that maybe a different perspective might be beneficial for him and give him an opportunity to hit the reset button.”
The other three lines remained the same as they were Friday. Sidney Crosby skated between Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust on the top line. Evgeni Makin centered a second line that featured Danton Heinen and Evan Rodrigues. Teddy Blueger’s line featured Brian Boyle at left wing and Zach Aston-Reeseon the right.
With Kapanen bumped down the lineup, finding reliable wingers to skate alongside Malkin has been a challenge. During Friday’s game Rodrigues cashed in on an empty-net goal, his second goal in the past 26 games. Thatline as a whole was effective,generating 55% of the expected goals, according to NaturalStat Trick.
“I thought E-Rod had one of his better games as of late,” Sullivan said. “He was on the puck more. I thought Geno’s linewas pretty good.”
Odd-man out on defense?
Brian Dumoulin rejoined practice Saturday, one day after skipping Friday’s game witha non-COVID illness.
Assuming he’s feeling healthy enough to play Sunday,the Penguins will have at least seven defensemen to fill six spots. That competition has been complicated by the strong play of Mark Friedman.
During Matheson’s injury absence, Friedman has made the most of his opportunity. He has sparked a number of on-ice scrums and used his mobility to defend. On Friday, he saved one goal by sweeping the puck out of the blue paint and then scored the game-winner later in the game.
Saturday’spractice offered one glimpse into a possible lineup configuration. While the defense rotated a bit, the most common combination suggests Marcus Pettersson
couldbe the odd-man out. But itwon’t be officially clear who is the healthy scratch until close to game time on Sunday.
Friedman skated alongside Chad Ruhwedel on the third pair. The other two combinations weren’t the typical ones. Mike Matheson skated alongside Kris Letang on the top pair. Dumoulin was paired with righty John Marino.
The Matheson-Letang combinationis an interesting one. Typically, the Penguins put one stay-at-home defenseman alongside a puck mover. In this instance, two of the most offensively inclined
defensemen are on the ice together.
“He’s a special player,” Letang said of Matheson. “He’s probably one of the most-skilled players we’ve got on our team with his skating ability, shot, vision. Everything. I think he’s the total package. It was fun to play with him. … I think we compliment each other really well.”
Rematch with Carolina
The Penguins are set for another measuring stick game Sunday when they welcome the Hurricanes to PPG PaintsArena.
As of Saturday afternoon, the Hurricanes sat atop the Metropolitan Division with 85points in 57 games.
“I think a lot of guys are [ticked] off about the results we’ve had against them.” Aston-Reese said. “… At this point, it’s kind of beyond Xs and Os. It just comes down to competeand will.”
Staying put
Penguins forward Drew O’Connor signed a one-year contract extension, the team announced.
The deal keeps a promising young prospect in Pittsburgh through the 2022-23 season on a $750,000 average annualvalue.