CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Following the Penguins' Oct. 22 matchup with the Blue Jackets in Columbus, Danton Heinen had registered three goals and three assists in five games, but in 10 games since then, he has no goals and just one assist.
Part of that is due to Heinen not having as prominent a role as he did early on, as his average ice-time has taken a bit of a hit. He played over 15 minutes in five separate games early on, but also has two games after that in which he logged fewer than 10 minutes.
One factor to Heinen being held without a goal for some time is that his shot volume has dropped off in a big way. In five of the first six games of the season, he registered two or more shots on goal. After that, he had a five-shot game against the Bruins that stands as his only multi-shot game since Columbus. In four of those games he was held without a shot entirely.
Heinen told me last month that while his confidence wasn't necessarily at an all-time high, he was a little less scared to make certain plays, and it was pretty apparent with the assertiveness he had out on the ice.
Following practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Monday, I asked Heinen if anything with his game has changed or his confidence has taken a bit of a hit.
"I don’t think I’m doing anything different," he said. "When the puck’s not going in, it’s natural to just kind of get down on yourself. I try to limit that. I try not to let that get to me. I think that’s the key, trying to find that confidence in situations like that. It’s hockey, sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t. You try to be confident. It happens fast, it can go quick and it can come back quick."
Heinen has been skating on the right wing of the Penguins' third line with Jeff Carter at center and Brock McGinn on the left wing recently. He's been used as a bit of a Swiss Army knife throughout the lineup, at one point filling in for Jake Guentzel on the first line with Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell.
Heinen told me that while you don't want to change who you are as a player depending on your linemates, there are minor adjustments to be made playing with someone like Carter at center versus someone like Crosby.
"I think you got to stick to your game and do what you do well, but different players you play with, yeah, I think you got to adjust a little bit," he said. "Listen to what they want, how they play. I think you keep your foundation and you try to adjust a little bit and complement to the guys you're playing with’s strengths."
There are subtle differences to playing on the right wing instead of the left wing as a left-handed shooter, but Heinen said those things are rather insignificant in the bigger picture, to him at least.
"We’re both lefties, me and Ginner, so sometimes we’ll come back in our own end and I’ll be on the left and he’ll be on the right," he told me. "It’s all situational, but it’s not a whole lot different. Taking pucks off the wall is a bit different. Sometimes on the right it might be a little easier in certain situations where you can face the rink and make a play. There’s a few little things here and there, but I don’t think it’s a whole lot different other than that."
After our talk, I asked Mike Sullivan if he's noticed anything about Heinen's game changing recently, or if the lack of production might just be a result of variance and puck luck.
"I still think Danton’s helping us create offense with some of the plays that he’s making. He has good instincts," Sullivan told me. "There are subtleties in his game when he’s at his best. I think he’s strong on the wall, for example, things like that. He’s hard on pucks, and I think that helps him produce offensively, but those are things that every player goes through with the ebbs and flows of their season."
Look no further than Heinen's work on McGinn's goal against the Maple Leafs on Friday to see an example of exactly what Sullivan talked about:
Heinen isn't the most skilled or flashy player, but he does a lot of the under-appreciated and often unnoticed work that leads to positive results.
"We try to remind them all of what their respective game looks like when they’re at their very best, and Danton’s one of those guys," Sullivan continued. "I believe he’s had a really good start to the season and I know he’s gonna score goals for us, he’s just got to stay with it."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• Evgeni Malkin was absent from practice due to personal reasons, per Sullivan. Nothing injury related.
"He's fine," Sullivan said.
• Ron Hextall said he was hopeful that Teddy Blueger would be ready to return from an upper-body injury for the Penguins' game against the Kraken on Nov. 5., but nine days later, Blueger remains on long-term injured reserve. He has been practicing without any limitations for some time now, though Sullivan said on Monday that he is still being evaluated on a day-to-day basis.
"Teddy's at the point now where it's reactionary day-to-day, depending on how he responds to the different stimulus that we give him, whether it be in the weight room or on the ice," Sullivan explained. "We'll take the advice of our medical staff. When he gets cleared to play, then we'll try to put him in a position to be successful. He has been a full-participant in practice, he looks really good out there."
Blueger skated at center on the second line during practice in the absence of Malkin.
• Filip Hallander missed the game on Saturday in Montreal due to an illness. Hallander did not practice on Monday, instead taking it in from the side of the rink in street clothes. On Tuesday, Sullivan said he is being evaluated and left it at that. If Hallander is actually injured, he can't be re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton until he's healthy.
• P.O Joseph has missed the previous two games with a nagging lower-body injury that was suffered in Washington against the Capitals last Wednesday. He practiced in full on Monday.
• After a slow start, Brock McGinn has goals in three consecutive games and appears to be playing some of his best hockey of the season regardless of the puck going in the net right now. I asked him if he consciously plays a different game when he's elevated to the third line.
"No, I think I approach the game the same way, just trying to play with speed and bringing energy, physicality to the team," he told me. "Just trying to chip in. It’s working right now, so hopefully it keeps going."
• Through 13 games, Jason Zucker is clicking at exactly a point per game, but he's more concerned with stacking Ws.
"Yeah, it’s good, but realistically for me, the wins are what matter," Zucker told me. "Throughout the course of the season, if you’re winning games, you’re going to have opportunities to get points. The points kind of come with wins. Typically when you’re on losing streaks and the team’s not playing well, the points typically go away for a lot of guys, so you got to try to do your best to win games and the points will take care of themselves at that point."
• Here are the forward lines utilized during practice:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Teddy Blueger - Rickard Rakell
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Danton Heinen
Kasperi Kapanen - Ryan Poehling - Josh Archibald
• All of the defensemen rotated during line rushes, but we also saw them start and end with the typical pairings:
Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
P.O Joseph - Jeff Petry
Brian Dumoulin - Jan Rutta
Chad Ruhwedel
• And the special teams personnel ...
PP1: Crosby, Guentzel, Rust, Rakell, Letang
PP2: Carter, Zucker, Heinen, Joseph, Petry
PK1: Poehling, McGinn, Dumoulin, Rutta
PK2: Archibald, Kapanen, Pettersson, Ruhwedel
• Taylor Haase put together an explanation on the cap implications of a potential Ty Smith recall from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. You can check that out here.
• Sullivan was asked about Tristan Jarry's performance this season. He's understandably looking for more from the 27-year-old.
"I think Tristan is capable of being an elite goaltender in this league," Sullivan said. "It's our job as a coaching staff to work and support him and help him capture that very best game. I think he's had -- when you look at the beginning part of the season, I thought he had some really good starts and was locked into his game, and then there's been other moments when we'd like him to be a bit better. We could say that about a lot of our players at this point. There's just been of volatility in his game, it could be a reflection of our team game."
Jarry currently holds a 4-3-2 record this season, allowing 3.45 more goals than expected based off the quality of chances he's faced. He has a .900 save percentage and a 3.55 goals against average.
• The Penguins play the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, 7:08 p.m., at PPG Paints Arena. They'll first hold an optional morning skate at 10:30. I'll have your coverage, along with Taylor, for all of it.
