Crosby: 'It should be full throttle here' in final push for playoffs

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Penguins aren't exactly a lock for the playoffs with the end of the season a little more than a month out.

They aren't exactly at a giant risk of missing the playoffs, either.

Although their 32-22-9 record (73 points) has them in the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, they hold the first wild card spot based on points percentage (.579). The other teams within striking distance are the Islanders (.561), Senators (.540), Sabres (.540) and Panthers (.538).

Among those teams, the Penguins currently have the highest likelihood of making the playoffs at 91.5%, per MoneyPuck.

Those odds, combined with being the league's oldest team, might lead one to believe the Penguins could pace themselves down the stretch in order to have something left in the tank once the dance rolls around. However, this team clearly has some kinks to work out in the meantime.

Following practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex Wednesday, I asked Sidney Crosby if there are any challenges at this time of year in regard to ramping up for the postseason, but not burning out on the way there.

"I don't think -- not in our situation," Crosby said with a bright smile. "It should be full throttle here, see what we can do and get every point we can get. I think it's a good thing when you're playing important games every single night. That's gonna bring out our best, and it should make us that much more sharp. If we find a way to get in, I think that'll be something that serves us well. But, we gotta find a way to get in there first."

The Penguins won't have more than a single day off in between games until the last week of the month. Coming up, four of their next six games are against the Islanders and Rangers. Additionally, each of their next four games are on home ice.

"We were on the road there for a bit," he said. "To come home and get a few in a row here is really important. We've got some big games all the way in, but it's not too often we get a homestand like this, and we've got to make the most of it."

MORE FROM PRACTICE

• Both Bryan Rust (personal reasons) and Mikael Granlund (illness) were on the ice for practice Wednesday after missing Tuesday's game against the Blue Jackets.

• Rust had a pretty good excuse for his absence: He and his wife welcomed their second son, Logan.

"Very excited, very fatigued," Rust said with a laugh. "Just overall, really happy."

• With both players back in the mix, the Penguins had a new-look workflow:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Drew O'Connor - Mikael Granlund - Jeff Carter/Alex Nylander
Danton Heinen/Ryan Poehling - Nick Bonino - Josh Archibald

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

• Although Carter and Nylander rotated on the right wing of the third line during line rushes, it appears as though Nylander will be the one scratched when the Penguins play Thursday against the Islanders at PPG Paints Arena. I say that because Carter remained in his role as the net-front presence with the second power-play unit during special teams work, whereas Nylander watched from the neutral zone as he chatted with assistant coach Mike Vellucci.

• Despite the indication he will be scratched, Mike Sullivan reiterated his praise for Nylander's performance in his Penguins debut.

"The coaches were really impressed with Alex's game," Sullivan said. "We knew he was a guy that could make plays, he's got good offensive instincts. I think that's the strength of his game. But what really impressed us was his 200-foot game, his game away from the puck, some of the details of defending, his strength along the walls, protecting pucks. He made good decisions with the puck, he wasn't a high-risk player. And that's an important aspect of winning, making sure that you make good decisions when you have the puck so you don't put your team in vulnerable spots. 

"I thought he made some decisions coming through the neutral zone with the puck where there wasn't a lot going on, and he was willing to play behind our opponent's defensemen and try to create offense different ways. He didn't force things that weren't there, so to speak. And I thought his play away from the puck was pretty solid. His recognition skills, his details, whether it be D-zone coverage or faceoff responsibilities, things like that, where he was locked in. I think there's a lot of growth there, and he deserves a lot of credit for it."

In case you missed it, I broke down Nylander's first game -- and much of what Sullivan mentioned -- with the big club. Really encouraging stuff.

• It hasn't happened yet, but the Penguins will have to convert Nylander's emergency recall to a standard recall now that Rust and Granlund are back. That said, he is already counting against the salary cap, so no other moves will need to be made. They'll have enough cap space for him until Poehling is activated from long-term injured reserve.

• Yes, Poehling is on long-term injured reserve, but he can still practice with the team. No update was provided on his status, though he appeared to once again participate in a full capacity. Another positive sign is that he was involved with the penalty-kill. He's played only seven games since Dec. 30 due to this nagging upper-body injury.

• The power-play personnel ...

PP1: Crosby, Guentzel, Rakell, Malkin, Letang

PP2: Carter, Granlund, Rust, Zucker, Petry

• Rust and Granlund took turns swapping sides at each half-wall after every power-play rep. Zucker was the bumper and, as mentioned, Carter was at the net-front.

• "Usually when we make changes, there's reasons for it," Sullivan said of changing the defense pairings. "Whether it be performance or we don't like what we see, there's a number of reasons why those occur. When we make those types of changes, it's because we're not satisfied with where we're at. 

• Aside from reducing Dumoulin's workload, another factor to changing the pairings likely has to do with the Pettersson-Petry pairing struggling to reach their effectiveness from earlier in the season. Although both of them have been putting up a fair number of points as of late, the Penguins haven't been doing all that great of a job controlling play with the two of them on the ice at 5-on-5. Since Petry returned from injury on Jan. 20, the Penguins have scored just 41.7% of the goals at 5-on-5 and controlled 50.6% of the expected goals with the two of them on the ice together.

• Dumoulin won't be changing his approach now that he's partnered up with Petry.

"No," he responded when asked if he needs to do anything different with a new partner. "Obviously, it's just trying to get something going. For me, just try to give our team the best chance to win. That's all I care about."

• Former Penguins player and assistant coach Mark Recchi was at the Lemieux Complex Wednesday. He caught up with Sullivan outside of the locker room after practice concluded.

• Ron Hextall signed four Make-A-Wish kids to special one-day contracts Wednesday morning.

The kids had the opportunity to eat breakfast in the locker room with the players and observe practice with their families. After practice, they hit the ice with a select group of players.

"I think it's an incredible experience for all of us that have an opportunity to share an experience with these kids that are going through a difficult time," Sullivan said. "I think we gain every bit as much fulfillment out of it as they do. Just as far as offering a certain perspective, I think it's hard not to have that conversation with yourself when you have an opportunity to meet these kids and some of the challenges that they're trying to overcome. I know it's a huge thrill for our guys. They look forward to this opportunity."

"It's great to have them here, and hopefully they have a special day and a great visit," Crosby said. "That's what our hope is, and it sounds like they're having a lot of fun."

• The Penguins play again Thursday night. It's a 7:08 p.m. puck drop against the Islanders at PPG Paints Arena. Taylor Haase and Dejan Kovacevic will have your coverage.