The Penguins' power play hasn't been a strong suit of theirs this season, and that's been especially true in the last two weeks.
The change they made in Saturday's morning skate ahead of their 7:08 p.m. meeting with the Blues may just provide the spark the team needs on the man advantage.
The Penguins scored two power play goals in their 6-4 win in Minnesota on Nov. 17. Their next goal on a power play didn't come until Jake Guentzel's tally in the Penguins' 4-3 win over the Golden Knights on Thursday, a goal that snapped the team's six-game goalless streak on the man advantage, a stretch in which the Penguins failed to score on 17 consecutive power play opportunities.
It's not just that the Penguins have been unable to finish on the power play -- they aren't even getting many shots through. Over the last two weeks the Penguins are recording shots on goal at a rate that works out to be 1.2 shots every two minutes. The only team shooting less on the power play in the last two weeks is the Flyers.
Getting more shots through is a good place to start when it comes to getting the power play back on track.
Putting the player who averages more power-play shot attempts than anyone else on the top unit is a way to make that happen.
Indications in Saturday's morning skate point to that change being made. The special teams portion of the skate included Rickard Rakell joining Jeff Petry, Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the top unit, and Bryan Rust being moved to the second unit with P.O Joseph, Jason Zucker, Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen.
Rakell has the highest rate of shot attempts of any Penguins player on the power play this season, averaging .97 for every two minutes. He averages .51 shots on goal for every two minutes of power play time, a rate that ranks No. 2 on the team only behind Guentzel.
Rust hasn't been getting as many shots through on the power play this season. He's averaging .59 attempts and .31 shots on goal for every two minutes.
Just shooting the puck has been an emphasis of Rakell's all season, in all situations.
"What I've figured out is that when I'm trying to at least be a threat and shoot the puck, then other options open up for the whole line, essentially," Rakell explained after Saturday's morning skate. "I think that's for the whole team. I feel like when we're trying to shoot the puck and trying to create scoring chances that way, then everybody knows where the puck is going to go, and we can convert on those rebounds."
Rakell's ability to shoot the puck is one of the attributes Mike Sullivan pointed to as something they're hoping to see from him tonight in that role.
"He just brings a different skill set, I think, to the group," Sullivan said of Rakell. "He's a right-handed shot, potentially a guy that can play on that backside flank. He can really shoot the puck. but he also has good offensive instincts. He sees it pretty well. It's just a little bit of a different skill set. We have tried Rak there earlier in the year, as you guys know, we've had a few different looks here over the last little while. Rusty has been a part of that for quite some time now. We're trying to effect some positive change and see if we can gain some traction."
Rakell and Rust have a different skill set, but what they do have in common is their handedness, with both players being right-handed shots. Rakell is stepping into Rust's position on the left wing on that top power play, his off side. The benefit to having a forward on his off wing on a power play is that the direction of his stick leads to better shooting angles on net, which could lead to more goals being scored from that area.
Just getting any shots off on the power play could go a long way toward more goals, and that's what Rakell is looking to bring to the top unit.
"For me, everyone else is so good at handling the puck and passing the puck," Rakell said. So I've just got to be ready whenever I get a chance to shoot it and do my best to put the puck in the back of the net."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• It was a rare full morning skate because the Penguins had a day off on Friday. Defense pairings rotated and the forward lines remained unchanged:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Ryan Poehling - Teddy Blueger - Josh Archibald
(Danton Heinen)
• Tristan Jarry will start.
• Rust enters this game with just one goal and one assist in his last 14 games, with both points coming in the Penguins' Nov. 19 game in Winnipeg. I asked Sullivan for his observations on Rust's play over that stretch and what needs to change for him to get back onto the scoresheet.
"I think Rusty's game has improved in his last handful of games," Sullivan said. "I think he's been a lot better. I think when he's at his best he's using his speed to put our opponents' defenseman under pressure. He's challenging them with wide speed. He's creating a lot of turnovers and loose puck opportunities for his linemates. He's always been a guy that's conscientious defensively, and he continues to bring that. But I think when he's at his best, he's a north-south guy that plays with a ton of speed and he puts a lot of pressure on our opponents in so many different ways. I think he's played a lot better the last four or five games, I do believe Rusty's tracking the right way. Obviously, we rely on him in so many areas, it's important for us to get him on the right track."
• Sullivan said that Kris Letang skated on his own on Friday. He took a light skate (what Sullivan described at the time as a "twirl") on Thursday as well.
"His spirits are really good, he's making progress," Sullivan said of Letang. "He looks really good. He skated yesterday. A lot of that is still not in the form of structured hockey skates but just getting out on the ice, and he's working out a little bit. He's such a fitness freak, I think that's just part of his DNA. That's his comfort zone. Our doctors are monitoring him very closely, so everything that he's doing at this point, he gets approval from our medical team. But he is making progress and he's in great spirits. He looks really good. We're hopeful he continues to progress here so at some point we can reengage him from hockey standpoint."
