CRANBERRY, Pa. -- All signs are pointing toward Jason Zucker making his return to the Penguins' lineup on their upcoming road trip to Minnesota and Colorado.
Zucker, who was full-contact in Tuesday's morning skate and then again in Wednesday's practice at the Lemieux Complex, took line rushes in a practice setting for the first time since undergoing core muscle surgery on Jan. 25. He worked on the Penguins' second power play unit during the special teams drills, another indication that he's nearing a return.
Mike Sullivan said that he would expect Zucker to be a "game-time decision" on the road trip, which usually means that the player is ready to return.
Zucker skated on the left wing of Evgeni Malkin's line, shifting Rickard Rakell from left wing to right wing. Bryan Rust moved from Malkin's wing back to his usual spot on the top line, bumping Evan Rodrigues down to the third line, Danton Heinen down to the fourth line, and Radim Zohorna out of the lineup:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Evan Rodrigues - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Brian Boyle - Teddy Blueger - Danton Heinen
That second line is an intriguing one.
Rakell's still settling in since being traded to the Penguins on trade deadline day. He's recorded one goal and two assists, all in that 11-2 rout of the Red Wings on Sunday.
What's really stood out about Rakell's game is just his ability to get to the net-front and help create that way, either by providing a screen or looking for redirect or rebound opportunities. He had one of the saves of the game in Tuesday's loss to New York, dropping to block a shot and protect the empty cage as the Penguins were making a late push for a tying goal:
Rakell's been on Malkin's wing for two games now, that win over Detroit and the loss to New York. He said Wednesday that he thinks that they've gotten some "good looks," but it sounds like they're still working on developing chemistry.
"I'm starting to learn where he is on the ice and where we can combine our strengths," Rakell said of Malkin. "So I'm excited, I think it's a lot of fun. I just think it's going to get better."
Rakell has played on Malkin's left for those two games, but Zucker's return on that line shifts Rakell to the right wing. It's definitely not unfamiliar territory for Rakell. He has what Sullivan referred to as a "significant body of work" on both wings in Anaheim, and had been playing more right than left prior to the trade. He said after his debut that he's just as comfortable on either side. Now that it looks like he is going to be moved back to the right, he doesn't see that changing much for him.
"You line up on one side or the other on the faceoff, but then you pretty much read off each other and just play the game," he said. "So I don't think it's going to matter that much."
Zucker has played with Malkin before. They spent time together last season, and then for the Jan. 17 game this season in Vegas, the only game so far in which both players were healthy. Of Zucker's two goals that game, Malkin had one of the assists on the goal that came at even strength.
Now that Zucker is again healthy, Sullivan thinks that he has the ability to be successful on Malkin's wing.
"He's a north-south guy that plays really well in the battle areas and in traffic," Sullivan said of Zucker. "He's great on the forecheck, he goes to the net, makes it hard on our opponent's goaltender. I think that's an important element to have on Geno's line, is someone that's willing to go to the net so that they're more encouraged to put pucks there. For me, I think that plays to Zuck's strength."
Regardless of whether these line combinations stick down this last stretch of the season, the additions of Rakell and now Zucker gives the Penguins so much more depth.
"It gives us more balance, makes us harder to play against," Sullivan said of Rakell and Zucker. "They're good players and they just make us that much deeper in our ability to generate offense, but also just being harder to play against. They add to our team speed, they both have a physical dimension in their game. There's a number of ways that those guys help us when they're in the lineup. The biggest thing is just our depth, our balance and our versatility."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• Brock McGinn (wrist injury) skated prior to practice along with Zucker and Mark Friedman, who is healthy. McGinn resumed using two hands on his stick on Tuesday and did so again today. Lemieux Complex goaltending coach and Penguins emergency backup goaltender Mike Chiasson played in net before practice so those players could take shots.
• Based on the defense pairings used, it looks as if Marcus Pettersson will again sit for Friedman. Friedman replaced Pettersson on the third defense pairing alongside Chad Ruhwedel:
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Mike Matheson - John Marino
Mark Friedman - Chad Ruhwedel
Sullivan said that Friedman "has the ability to be a difference-maker."
"He's a real mobile guy," Sullivan said of Friedman. "He's a competitive guy. I think he defends well, he's willing to block shots, he can help us on the penalty kill. There's a number of areas where I think Frieds has helped us when he's gone in the lineup. He's always in the conversation when we're trying to make lineup decisions."
• Pettersson skated on an extra defense pairing with Zohorna and Anthony Angello.
• Angello was recalled Tuesday, using up one of the four standard recalls that teams are allowed to use between the trade deadline and the end of the regular season. Angello figures to serve as insurance for the road trip, given that the Penguins had no extra forwards on the roster unless Zucker is healthy. Being a right-handed shot may have given Angello an edge over the likes of Drew O'Connor and Kasper Bjorkqvist. I asked Sullivan what went into the decision to give Angello the call.
"Anthony's playing very well and is deserving of the call up," Sullivan aid. "That's the main reason why that decision was made. He's played games here for us over the last couple of seasons, and he's been very effective in the role that he's played for us. He brings us some size, he can really skate. He's got a physical dimension to his game. He understands what his role is. And every time we've called Anthony up, he's been very effective for us when we've put him in the lineup. But I think the biggest reason is because he's playing well."
Angello has seven goals and 10 assists in 39 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, primarily playing on the right side of the second line alongside Alex Nylander and Sam Poulin as of late.
• The top power play remained the same: Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Malkin, and Rust.
• The second play was Mike Matheson, Rakell, Jeff Carter, Zucker, with Kasperi Kapanen and Rodrigues rotating in the last spot.
• Rakell still sounded a little starstruck in talking about now being teammates with players like Crosby and Malkin.
"They've been two players who have been great in this league for such a long time," he said. "They were both idols of mine growing up. So it's so much fun to me to just learn from them and watch small things they're doing on the ice to try to get my game to get better."
• Not only did the trade reunite Rakell with two of his former Anaheim teammates in Pettersson and Heinen, it also reunited him with assistant coach Mike Vellucci, who was Rakell's head coach in the OHL with the Plymouth Whalers. Other ex-Whalers who have come through the Penguins organization -- like former forward Stefan Noesen and current Wilkes-Barre Penguin Jamie Devane -- have always spoken so highly of the relationship they formed with Vellucci, and how that relationship remained intact even when Vellucci wasn't their coach anymore. Rakell said Wednesday that he's kept in touch with Vellucci over the years through text messages.
"I had a great experience with Mike," he said. "And for me coming over as a 17-year-old and playing for him, he for sure taught me a lot of things about North American hockey and just growing up. You move away from your family and you're just a bunch of young guys playing on the same team. I know he's been a big part of where I am today, so I'm very thankful."
• When I was perusing Rakell's Instagram account after the trade, something immediately stood out: He has a dog named Heinz, spelled just like the ketchup. Heinz and Rakell's other dog Stella have their own Instagram account, and they occasionally play up the ketchup references:
I asked Rakell how his dog got his name, and it's pretty evident that Rakell was just destined to play in Pittsburgh.
"We got him when he was a year old from a breeder, and his name was already Heinz," Rakell explained. "(The breeder) said it was from Heinz Field, so it's a pretty funny story that I ended up here. I hope he can come out here some day."
Heinz and Stella remain in Anaheim with Rakell's wife Emmeli, who is pregnant with the couple's first child and due in June.
• Remember the shirt Zucker was wearing last practice featuring a cartoon of Friedman as Lord Farquaad from Shrek? Head equipment manager Jon Taglianetti, who seems to be the source of the T-shirts this season, had one of the Friedman shirts on while on the bench early in practice.
