The Penguins have been reduced to a one-line team by Injuries to the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Jason Zucker, Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev.
That's hardly ideal, of course, but Mike Sullivan isn't interested in trying to spread the offense around.
Not if it means breaking up his No. 1 line, anyway.
Sullivan said Wednesday morning that his plan, at least for now, it to keep the Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust line -- whose members are responsible for most of the Penguins' scoring lately -- intact.
Guentzel (2), Rust (2) and Crosby (1) accounted for five of the six goals the Penguins recorded during their past three games, leading into their meeting with Buffalo tonight at 8:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
"One of the concerns is that we like how Sid's line has played to this point," Sullivan said. "There's obviously some chemistry there, so in that instance, sometimes I'm reluctant to make a move.
"But having said that, it's certainly not off the table. There's always that fine line between (diversifying the offense and) spreading your offensive guys too thin. We'll make those decisions accordingly. We have some ideas in mind about how we can tweak the lines to try to create more balance. We'll see where it goes."
Another factor in wanting to keep the Crosby line together is its effectiveness in the defensive zone.
"All three of them, I think, have real good two-way games," Sullivan said. "Jake and (Rust) are very good defensively. They have good awareness away from the puck.
"They make good decisions away from the puck. They have good sticks. They anticipate well. They're willing to block shots. They do a lot of the little things, those thankless jobs that I think are difficult to quantify on the scoresheet but add up to winning."
ALSO TODAY:
• Sullivan said that Tanev skated with Zucker and skills coach Ty Hennes this morning but will not play tonight. He remains day-to-day.
• Tristan Jarry is scheduled to be in goal.
• The coaching staff has considered using Kasperi Kapanen as a penalty-killer, Sullivan said, and has not ruled out doing so, but is trying to get maximum impact out of each player's ice time. "We know that's an option for us," Sullivan said. "We haven't chosen to go that route at this point, but that doesn't mean we won't change going forward."
