CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Mike Sullivan made a switch to his personnel combinations midway through Saturday's win over the Capitals that he stuck with for Monday's practice here at the Lemieux Complex.
He switched Mikael Granlund and Rickard Rakell on the right wings of the second and third lines, with Granlund joining Jason Zucker and Evgeni Malkin on the second line and Rakell joining Danton Heinen and Ryan Poehling on the third line.
The Zucker-Malkin-Granlund line was together intact for about 4:10 of five-on-five time in the win. Though it was a short sample size, they had the best results of any line at five-on-five that game. They were on the ice for four shot attempts for and one against, three unblocked shot attempts for and one against, three high-danger shots for and none against, and outshot opponents 3-0. They controlled an absurd 93.39% of the expected goals share when on the ice in a game when no other forward line recorded better than 41%.
They showed enough in that second half of the game to seemingly earn another game together when the Penguins play the Red Wings in Detroit on Tuesday evening.
"Granny's just a solid two-way player," Sullivan said of the decision. "I think he has good playmaking ability, good offensive instincts, but he brings a defensive conscience and also has an ability to play down low on the defensive zone, he adds a different element than a player like Raks, for example. So depending on what we choose based on how we think certain players are playing, we know that that's an option for us."
What Sullivan didn't mention is that Zucker and Granlund also have extensive experience together during their time in Minnesota, both as wingers with a rotating cast of centers. They were linemates pretty often from 2016-19, Granlund's last two and a half seasons with the Wild. They were together at five-on-five a total of 1,810 minutes over those seasons, and during that time they controlled 51.16% of the shot attempts, 52.64% of the unblocked shot attempts, 61.83% of the high-danger shot attempts, 53.74% of the shots on goal, 60.24% of the expected goals and 60% of the actual goals, outscoring opponents 93-62.
"Granny's a great player, we had a lot of fun playing together in the past," Zucker told me after practice. "We'll see if we can get that going again. He has a lot of the same attributes (as he did in Minnesota). He's an unbelievable playmaker, he thinks the game with a lot of high IQ. He's a fun guy to play with."
Granlund hasn't exactly been putting up the points since the trade, with a goal and two assists in 12 games, playing as both center and right wing primarily on the third line. Zucker thinks that Granlund is capable of scoring more, but anticipates seeing more assists from Granlund on that line, rather than goals.
"He's a guy that's scored 20 in his career before," Zucker said. "But he's a playmaker, he's not a goal-scorer. He looks to pass first, is what I'm trying to say. He's got a special playmaking ability. He just has to be put in those positions to be able to do it."
Granlund and Zucker have that familiarity, but playing with Malkin is new territory for Granlund. They didn't have much time together last game, but Granlund said it was "pretty easy" to make that adjustment.
"You all know how creative (Malkin) can be with the puck," Granlund said. "He really wants to do things offensively, and he's one of the most skilled players in the world. I just have to be ready there, move the puck good and get open. Just play with your instincts. ... You just go out there and play hockey and try to do the right things offensively and defensively too, try to help them out.
Oh, and Rakell getting bumped down to the third line isn't a "demotion." It's not an indictment of Rakell's game, or even his fit on Malkin's line. Rather, Sullivan is looking for some more offense out of that third line with Poehling and Heinen. It's just a matter of balance.
"With Raks playing on Ryan Poehling's line, I think Raks brings a certain offensive threat to that line that gives us offensive balance," Sullivan said. "That potentially makes us harder to play against."
If Granlund and Zucker can rekindle the chemistry that they had in those years in Minnesota, and Rakell can add more of a spark to the Penguins' third line, then the team as a whole could become a whole lot harder to play against.
It's worth a shot.
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• Jeff Carter missed practice today, Sullivan said afterward that his absence was due to personal reasons and that he's fine. He'll travel to Detroit.
• Jeff Petry was a full participant. It was his first full practice since his injury, though he was a full participant in the morning skate on Saturday as well. Petry said he didn't know for sure yet if he'll play tomorrow. Sullivan said that he'd anticipate Petry being a game-time decision tomorrow. Petry resumed his place on the second defense pairing and the second power play unit, a good sign.
• Nick Bonino was around today and watched practice from the bench in workout clothes. Sullivan said that Bonino has been around the team since they got back from the Colorado-Dallas road trip last week. He had been doing off-ice workouts like riding the stationary bike, and today he skated on his own before practice.
• Tristan Jarry was a full participant in practice after being healthy enough to back up on Saturday. He still didn't seem to be moving right at times and DeSmith seemed to be getting a bigger share of the work, especially at the end of practice when the formal session is over and players are doing more individual work. Sullivan was asked afterward if Jarry's lower-body injury last week was a new injury or an aggravation of a previous injury, and he said it was a new injury. Jarry declined to comment on the nature of his injury, but said he feels "Good. My body feels good and a good couple days of practice. I'm excited to play some games."
• The Penguins used these lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Mikael Granlund
Danton Heinen - Ryan Poehling - Rickard Rakell
Drew O’Connor - Alex Nylander - Josh Archibald
P.O Joseph - Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin - Jeff Petry
Mark Friedman - Chad Ruhwedel/Taylor Fedun
• Chad Ruhwedel got the bulk of the rotations next to Mark Friedman, with Taylor Fedun mostly the odd-man out. If Petry is able to play Tuesday, one of the emergency recalls (either Fedun or Friedman) has to go back down or be converted to a standard recall. Looks like Fedun would be going back down.
• The first power play was Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Malkin, Jake Guentzel and Rakell
• The second power play was Petry, Granlund, Zucker, Bryan Rust and Alex Nylander
• Last season we saw a lot of goofy shirts start popping up on players -- like Brian Boyle's head photoshopped on Chase Claypool's body with "Big Boyle" under it, or Friedman's head on Lord Farquad's body from Shrek. The story is always the same -- players say they have no idea where the shirt came from or why the design is what it is, but it just showed up in their locker one day so they put it on. Not everyone gets the new shirt design at the same time, the shirt fairy only visits certain stalls before practice. When Rakell took his jersey off after practice I saw he had a shirt on underneath with a cartoon of P.O Joseph holding a tray of muffins with "Muffin Man" written underneath. I asked him what the deal was with it.
"It was hanging in my stall today, I don't know what it means," he said with a grin and a shrug. He then turned to his right to Zucker.
"The Muffin Man shirt. Do you know what it means? I've never heard of it before," he asked Zucker.
Zucker claimed he had never seen the shirt before.
"I guess he must like muffins or something," Rakell said with another shrug and a laugh.
I asked Joseph if he knew where the shirts came from.
"Oh, I just see it everywhere, everyone has it," Joseph said with his usual big smile. "It's a good nickname."
But why is he the Muffin Man?
"It's just my shot," he said. "It isn't really hard, that's what they say."
• If you've been reading In the System or listening to Podcast on Fifth Ave this season, you know that two undrafted free agent prospects who I'd been following are sophomore forward Max Sasson and junior defenseman Aidan Fulp, both from Western Michigan, both of whom attended Penguins development camp this summer. With Western Michigan's season over, both players are free to sign anywhere now if they wish to leave college early and turn pro. Sasson on Sunday signed an entry-level deal with the Canucks. Fulp is still available.