Penguins Exploring Different Options with Their Workflow

After the Penguins' last game on Saturday versus Seattle, which was their seventh straight setback (0-6-1), Mike Sullivan spoke about how they've experimented with different combinations on their blue line during games in hopes of a spark.

They then practiced with those new combinations during Tuesday's practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex before flying to Washington to begin a three-game road trip.
Marcus Pettersson moved up to the top pairing alongside Kris Letang. Brian Dumoulin, who has been a fixture alongside the franchise defenseman ever since the 2016 Stanley Cup
Final, skated on the third pairing, with Jan Rutta and Chad Ruhwedel rotating in. The second pairing consisted of P.O Joseph and Jeff Petry.
"We're trying to find some combinations that we think will work for us, and so, we're exploring different options," Sullivan said.
It's a well-deserved promotion for Pettersson, with more consistent play being one of his goals heading into the season after being a healthy scratch at times last season.
Penguins assistant coach Todd Reirden, who oversees the defense, said they wanted the 26-year-old be able to defend against other team's top players while maintaining a certain level from shift to shift. That's exactly what he's done in this early part of the year.
"He's had a real good training camp; he's had a steady start to the season. And when Marcus is at his best, he's just a reliable, trustworthy defenseman on both sides of the puck," Sullivan said.
It feels good for Pettersson to have this vote of confidence from the coaching staff, and he's looking forward to playing alongside a future Hall of Famer - calling it a privilege to skate with Letang.
"It's going to be a lot of fun," he said. "We haven't really played that many games together, but we've seen some looks throughout the games when the pairings have been shifted a little bit. Just a lot of talk. We know the system we got to play to, so communication is going to be key."
Conversely, Dumoulin took responsibility for his game not being at its usual high level. Sullivan said they have so much respect for the 31-year-old, who's been such a key part of this team dating back to their back-to-back championship runs, and how he's handling the situation.
"He's a great player. He's a great pro. He's been a great Pittsburgh Penguin for a long time," Sullivan said. "We have high expectations of him, and no one has higher expectations of him than himself. One of the things we always admire about Dumo and his character is that he takes ownership for his own game, and he takes responsibility for trying to bring his very best. There's no doubt that I know he'll work through it."
The Penguins made some changes on the front end as well, with perfect attendance from their forward group. Teddy Blueger (has yet to make season debut; upper-body), Jeff Carter (three games missed; lower-body) and Josh Archibald (one game missed; lower-body) were all full participants in the session.
The Penguins re-assigned Drew O'Connor to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday after he appeared in three games, and called up Filip Hallander on Monday.
Sullivan said that the 22-year-old forward could be an asset to the struggling penalty kill, which ranks 26th in the league and has given up goals in nine of 12 games (10, if you could Seattle scoring immediately after they went back to full strength after a power play).
"That's a dimension of his game that we think he could help us. He does a lot of little things that I think add up to winning. That's what he's done for Wilkes Barre. He's had a real good start to their season. He's deserving of the call-up."
The Penguins practiced with the following forward lines, five in total:
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Zucker-Malkin-Rakell
McGinn-Carter-Heinen
Hallander-Poehling-Archibald
Poulin-Blueger-Kapanen
"You look at our stretch that we're in right now, sometimes you have to mix things up a little bit," Carter said. "Try and build some chemistry in different places, and hopefully we can do that."