Penguins preparing to 'match energy' of desperate 1-5-2 Canucks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- On the drive from the Vancouver airport to my hotel downtown on Wednesday, I passed a pretty funny sign.

It was out front of the nightclub The Penthouse, an establishment apparently just as well-known for its entertainment outside of the building as it is inside.

The sign read "CANUCKS DRINK FREE," followed by "(AFTER YOU WIN 1)" on the lower line.

That sign could have been up there for the last two weeks and the joke still would have landed. The Canucks had been the NHL's lone winless team entering Thursday, though they're now 1-5-2 following a 5-4 victory by nightfall just across the border in Seattle. Their slow start is surprising performance given the turnaround this Vancouver team had last season after Bruce Boudreau took over behind the bench.

They'll be desperate when facing the Penguins here 24 hours later -- 10:08 p.m. Eastern faceoff -- and the visitors sounded aware of that.

"It's a team that's going to come out hard," Bryan Rust told me after the Penguins' practice Thursday afternoon at Rogers Arena. "They're obviously looking for a win and I think we've just got to be ready to match that energy."

Matching that energy and having that good start is going to be key for the Penguins, who have struggled to put together a 60-minute effort on this western Canada swing so far. The Penguins put together a historically-bad second period in Edmonton, with their -22 shot differential after being outshot 26-4 matching their worst shot attempt differential in a single period in franchise history. They took a different approach for the game in Calgary on Tuesday and got their awful period out of the way early, entering first intermission trailing 2-0 on the scoreboard and 20-6 on the shot counter. They were able to regain momentum in the second period, but that early deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

The Canucks may be at the bottom of the league's standings, but the Penguins know that their own start to the season has been far from perfect too.

"They're struggling a little bit this year, trying to figure some things out," Josh Archibald said of the Canucks. "I think that we're trying to figure some things out on our end right now too. But at the same time, every team in this league is good. You've just got to approach everything the same. I think if we stick to our game and our game plan, everything should go well, hopefully."

"We have to know that they're going to come out and just bring a lot of energy and try to work hard as hard as they can," Rickard Rakell added. "So we're going to have to match that intensity. But also for us, we know we definitely have areas that we want to improve on and get better. So I think for us, it's just more to prove to ourselves that we can put in a good 60-minute game together."

A game against the league's worst team would appear to be a good opportunity to show that complete, 60-minute effort, but the Penguins know that it'll still be a challenge to put together that full game.

"I think we're going to probably get their best game so far this season," said Ryan Poehling. "I mean, obviously getting the first one off the back is what everyone wants, and they're probably frustrated, and they're gonna turn it into energy. We just have to match that early on. I think we've played good periods and you see flashes of that, but we need to play a complete game. So I think if we can start early on and keep that momentum going and get the doubt in their heads earlier, that'll help us."

I asked Sullivan after practice if he thinks that playing a desperate team like the Canucks presents a unique kind of challenge, and he said it does -- but that every team in this league presents its own kind of challenge.

" I just have so much respect for the players, the coaches," Sullivan said. "Every team is good. Every team has good players, there's a fine line between winning and losing. Regardless of who you're playing on a given night, there's going to be a challenge in some way. If you're playing a team that is on a 10-game winning streak, you're playing a team that's got a lot of confidence. If you're playing a team that hasn't won in a little while, you're playing a team that has a lot of motivation to try to win. So there's always challenges every night, regardless of who your opponent is. Our focus needs to be on our team and we need to present challenges to our opponents. That's where our focus needs to be."

MORE FROM PRACTICE

• Jake Guentzel skated with the team in a non-contact jersey and had limited participation in drills with teammates, only working in on a single line rush and not working with either power play unit during the special teams portion of practice. Jason Zucker didn't participated in practice but came out on the ice at the end in a non-contact jersey to skate on his own. Sullivan said afterward that both Guentzel and Zucker remain day-to-day. Teddy Blueger had a scheduled day off.

• The lines and pairings remained unchanged from last game, with the exception of P.O Joseph, Chad Ruhwedel and Jan Rutta all rotating on that third defense pairing:

Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen - Evgeni Malkin - Jeff Carter
Brock McGinn - Sam Poulin - Kasperi Kapanen
Drake Caggiula - Ryan Poehling - Josh Archibald

Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Jeff Petry
Chad Ruhwedel/P.O Joseph/Jan Rutta

• Sullivan said that he liked what he saw from that third line with Sam Poulin at center against the Flames.

"I thought they played pretty well, I thought Sam brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm," Sullivan said. "You know, he made some plays, he almost scored. I thought that line had had moments in the game where they were real effective for us. You look at Ginner and Kappy, two guys that have a lot of experience that can play on both sides of the puck, Kappy brings an element of speed. I think Sam can complement those guys through some of his offensive instincts and how his game has developed."

• I asked Sullivan after last game why he made the decision to sit Joseph and play Ruhwedel in his place, and he spoke of the desire to use the opportunity of a back-to-back to get Ruhwedel into the mix. Sullivan was asked again about that decision to take Joseph out of the lineup after Thursday's practice, and he spoke about the confidence he has in Joseph's game.

"That decision was made for a number of reasons," Sullivan said. "Chad Ruhwedel is a good defenseman for us as well and has had a strong training camp and a strong start to the season. Sometimes when you're playing back-to-back like that, to have a couple of players go in the lineup that didn't play the night before brings us a certain level of energy and enthusiasm. Sometimes playing back-to-back or three games in four nights, which is part of the process for a young player can be a big challenge. So there were a number of reasons why we made that decision, but it's not a reflection of what we think of P.O's game or how he's performed. We've really liked P.O's progress and I think he's getting more comfortable with every game that he plays with us."

• Practice lasted about 40 minutes, pretty standard. The team seemed to be in a good mood despite how the last two games have went, Sullivan was in good spirits when he spoke afterward with reporters as well. Formal practice did end with a long talk from Sullivan at center ice with the players gathered around him that seemed to be pretty intense, but Sullivan wasn't yelling and he didn't exactly seem angry.