Inside Scoop: Pens-Preds
JOHNSON SET TO MAKE NHL DEBUT
On Wednesday the Pens recalled Adam Johnson from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and he is set to make his NHL debut tonight in Nashville.
"I'm just really excited," he said. "It's been a long time waiting and this is what I've been working for my whole life. I'm pumped to be here. I just hope to contribute in any way I can."
The 24-year-old is in his second season with the organization and comes to Pittsburgh with 18 goals and 40 points with WBS.
"Obviously I had all last year and then most of this year, so I've had plenty of time in the AHL to develop," he said. "I'm hoping the game will translate here."
One of the toughest parts of transitioning to the NHL is the speed of the game, but Johnson is someone who will be equipped to handle that.
"He's a guy that can help our overall team speed," Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's really good on the forecheck. We know he'll bring a lot of energy, it being his first NHL game. I know he's excited to play. He's played extremely well for Wilkes-Barre. He has good offensive instincts. We think he can help us in a lot of ways. He's a good penalty killer. So there's a number of different ways we can utilize him, but I think one of his biggest strengths is his speed."
That being said, Johnson isn't the biggest guy at 6-feet, 175 pounds, so the size of the players at this level will likely be an adjustment for him.
"Obviously guys are big and strong in the AHL as well, but probably a little bit more so here," he said. "I think I'll be able to handle it all right."
As if making his NHL debut wasn't thrilling enough for Johnson, the fact that he's getting this opportunity late in the season with the Pens battling for points adds to the excitement.
"It's kind of a unique time," Johnson said. "They're in a playoff push here, so I hope I can jump in, try to help with that push and moving up the standings. Do what I can. Just try to play a solid defensive game, a solid 200-foot game and do what I can to contribute."
WORKFLOW
Johnson slotted in for Joseph Blandisi, who was re-assigned to WBS along with defenseman Juuso Riikola. Here are the lines and D-pairs the Pens used:
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Simon-Bjugstad-Hornqvist
McCann-Blueger-Kessel
A. Johnson-Cullen-Wilson
Dumoulin-Letang
J. Johnson-Schultz
Pettersson-Gudbranson
In the first period of Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Carolina, the coaching staff reunited Rust with Crosby and Guentzel and moved McCann into his spot alongside Blueger and Kessel.
"Rusty has obviously played a fair amount with Sid and they've had a lot of success," Sullivan said. "Rusty is a little bit different type of player than Jared. And so depending on how the game is being played, sometimes we make those decisions game-to-game. But they're both very good players and regardless of how we use them - and this is the conversation that I had with Jared - is whether we use him on Crosby's line or we use him with Phil, he's a guy that we're going to rely on to help us offensively, utilize his speed, use his instincts, just be a solid overall two-way player for us.
"Depending on what each combination looks like, we have the ability to move those guys around, which I think is a luxury from our standpoint because it just gives us a little bit of a different look."
MAATTA PROGRESSING
After joining team practice for the first time in a non-contact red jersey on Tuesday, Olli Maatta progressed to full contact today.
"I felt good," he said. "I've been skating pretty hard lately. It's nice to join the guys, finally. I hope I get back there soon enough."
Maatta has missed the last 18 games with an upper-body injury suffered on Feb. 11 at Philadelphia. When he first went down, the Pens said that he would be out indefinitely, so for him to be tracking towards a return in the near future is positive.
"At the beginning you think it could be something bad," he said. "All these things go through your head. But I think at that point, just try to be calm and patient and check with the doctors, let them do their job. You just want to keep progressing. The communication between the trainers and the coaching staff and everybody, I think it's been good. You just make sure that when you get out there finally, you're 100 percent, there's no risk of getting injured again."
When Maatta does return, the coaching staff will have some difficult decisions in terms of who to dress on defense.
"I think it's good for us," Maatta said of the competition. "When you look at whenever we've gone far, you need that depth. I think right now, with the group of D-men we have, we have nine D-men and everybody can play. It's a competition and it's just pushing each other to get better and better."
