Less pressure on Penner

Murray said dropping Penner to a lower line was largely done to take some defensive responsibility off him.

"Right now with Pens I think that the matchup right now is important," Murray said. "I'm giving him the opportunity here to back away on having to shut down a (Joe) Thornton line, the checking part of the game. He's capable. But the game is just not there right now so with a different look it's an opportunity to get your game together … maybe certainly not the same stress coming at him as a Thornton line."

Back to top