Penguins need to rediscover playoff scoring balance against Capitals

WASHINGTON -- Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist have given the Pittsburgh Penguins the production that was expected from their top line during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now it's about getting the other lines to produce.
Guentzel has a goal and three assists and Crosby and Hornqvist each has a goal and an assist against the Washington Capitals, but the Penguins are going to need more than their top three forwards against the Capitals in the Eastern Conference Second Round.

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The Penguins and Capitals are tied 1-1 in the best-of-7 series, with Game 3 at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS2).
Guentzel leads the Penguins with 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in eight playoff games, followed by Crosby with 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in eight games, and Hornqvist with eight points (three goals, five assists) in six games.

After that, the production falls off among the forwards. Right wing Phil Kessel has five points (one goal, four assists) in eight games, his only goal coming in Game 5 of the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers. Center Derick Brassard has three points (goal, two assists) in eight games, and one point in the past five games. Left wing Conor Sheary has two assists in eight games.
The opportunities have been there for players not on the top line, but the finish hasn't.
"Obviously we're a much better team when we get contributions through our lineup," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "That's what we're trying to find, a little more balance. We've had a fair amount of scoring chances (but) we haven't finished. That's the next step for us. We're a much better team, much more difficult to play against, when we get those contributions throughout our lineup."
Right wing Bryan Rust said the other three Penguins lines need to capitalize more on rebounds.
"I think we can get more second and third opportunities in front of the net," said Rust, who has three goals in eight games but no points in two games against the Capitals. "As the game went on [Sunday] we got better, and we have to try and build on that."
Getting healthier would help. Forwards Evgeni Malkin (lower body) and Carl Hagelin (upper body), and defenseman Brian Dumoulin, practiced Monday. Sullivan said all three are game-time decisions. Malkin, who has missed the past three games, skated on the second line between Rust and Dominik Simon on Monday. He has five points (three goals, two assists) in five playoff games.

Regardless of when those players return, the Penguins need more from whatever forwards they use on the bottom three lines.
"They made all the offense, our top line," Simon said. "So we're trying to join them, for sure, but it didn't go in. We're just going to keep going. It will change over time, and I'm sure other lines will help too."
Kessel was on the third line with Sheary and Brassard on Monday. His 18 goals combined in the 2016 and 2017 playoffs led the Penguins, but he hasn't been shooting as often this time year, with 12 shots on goal after he had 68 in 2017 and 98 in 2016.
"We're just trying to get him to simplify his game, shoot when he has opportunities," Sullivan said. "He's so dangerous when he shoots the puck. And certainly we're trying to surround him with people who can help him be at his best. But he's a guy who we know plays his best when the stakes are high. He's done it for us time and time again. He's certainly a guy we're going to rely on and we're going to need here moving forward."
The Penguins don't care if the goals come from veterans or their younger players. Simon, playing in his first NHL postseason, had two great scoring opportunities in front of the Capitals net in Game 1 but didn't have a shot on goal in Game 2.
"It's not nice, you know? It's not fun," he said with a laugh. "You're just trying to stay with it, don't think about [how] it didn't go in. Just forget it and keep trying to do the same thing. That's why you got the chance, right? That's how I look at it and that's what I'm trying to do.

"We've got to go more to the net and do other things that we see our top line is doing. I feel like we have a couple of things to work on and we can get better in the series on our side."
The Penguins have had great success the past few years thanks to balanced scoring. Right now they're trying to rediscover that balance.
"If you look both sides of the series, it looks like one line is scoring for each team," Rust said. "We need to get more guys involved offensively, but it's going to come with hard work and paying a little more attention to detail and playing in the offensive zone a little more."