Sullivan: Penguins 'expect more' from third defense pairing

DETROIT -- Kyle Dubas said over the summer that the Penguins could have one of Erik Karlsson or Kris Letang on the ice for 50 minutes a night this season.

That's pretty much been the case through the first four games of the season. With Letang paired with Ryan Graves and Karlsson paired with Marcus Pettersson, the Penguins have a 1A and 1B pairing at five-on-five. Karlsson and Letang each quarterback a power play unit, with Karlsson handling top-unit duty. Karlsson leads the Penguins in average time on ice per game with 25:15, and Letang is right behind with 24:47.

The other 10 or so minutes that remain in a game are where P.O Joseph and Chad Ruhwedel come in as the third pairing. It's a small role relative to that of the other Penguins blueliners, but it can have a sizable impact on a game, as the Penguins found out in their 6-3 loss in Detroit on Wednesday night.

The three-goal deficit wasn't indicative of how the Penguins played in this one. There were a fair amount of positives to take away. Karlsson played his best game as a Penguin. He netted his first goal and was a constant threat in the third period when the Penguins were pushing to tie the game. Evgeni Malkin, fresh off his nod for the NHL's No. 3 star of the week, continued his tear of the league with the opening goal -- quite a feat for a player who apparently isn't one of the top 100 in the league this season, per ESPN. Bryan Rust continued his hot start as well, with his team-leading fourth goal of the year. Tristan Jarry played better than his stat line of 23 saves on 27 shots would suggest, and had a key save on a third-period penalty shot to keep the game within arms reach for the Penguins. Noted enforcer Marcus Pettersson even continued his run at the league's heavyweight title, fighting Dylan Larkin at the end of the second period.

"For most of the game, I thought our overall team game was pretty good," Mike Sullivan observed afterward.

The key phrase there is "most of the game." There were several minutes where things fell apart, and they came when members of the third defense pairing were on the ice.

After Malkin opened the scoring, the tying goal came in the first period from Alex DeBrincat off a 2-on-1 with Austin Czarnik. Joseph was the only man back after Ruhwedel pinched and missed his hit of Czarnik just before:

Ruhwedel, to his credit, took ownership for what happened afterward.

“The first one was on me," he said. "The guy chipped it by and it was either a place to take a penalty, or it just didn’t work out. I let the guy get by me and they scored. A couple bad ones follow up. That’s about all I got.”

Ben Chiarot made it a 2-1 game in the second period, and Ruhwedel and Joseph were again on the ice. Joseph got walked by Larkin, who then set up the goal:

"Stuff like that happens and you just kind of have to move by it," Joseph said of the third pairings game. "It's not one or the other's fault, it's just a pairing thing. We've got to work it out and come back stronger next game. ... It's one that stinks. We've been trying to battle, but nights like that happens and you've just got to move by it."

The Red Wings' third goal came later in the second period from Andrew Copp. This time Joseph was on the ice with Letang when they got left out there together during a change. They let Copp behind them and in position for the redirect:

"I think Jarry is keeping us in games, but we've got to make sure we protect the goalie first," Joseph said.

It was just an off night for both Joseph and Ruhwedel, and it proved costly.

“I don't think it was their best," Sullivan said of his third pairing's game. "I thought they allowed some people to get behind them a couple of times. We expect more.”

Ruhwedel and Joseph expect more, too. They were visibly unhappy in the locker room after the game, more so than most of their teammates.

It was an uncharacteristically bad game for those two. It's a small sample size, but Joseph and Ruhwedel played a total of 21:49 together at five-on-five in their first three games. In that time the Penguins controlled 53.49% of all shot attempts (23-20), 58.06% of all unblocked shot attempts (18-13), 68.92% of the expected goals share (1.23-0.56), and weren't on the ice for a goal for or against. They didn't contribute offensively or hurt them on the scoresheet, and they kept momentum swining in the Penguins' direction.

Sullivan did break up that pairing later in the game, putting Joseph with Letang and Ruhwedel with Graves. It stopped the bleeding, and the Penguins as a whole had a much stronger team game in the third period. The pushback just fell short.

It would be jumping the gun to think that the Penguins would stick with those new pairings moving forward, or that any lineup changes are needed. The two extra defensemen on the roster -- Ryan Shea and John Ludvig -- have yet to get into a game yet. They're both natural left defensemen and have limited experience on their off sides. There isn't anything better in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, either.

The Penguins' third pairing just needs to show that this was an anomaly, and that their play in the Penguins' first three games was what can be expected of them.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at Little Caesars Arena

1. Andrew Copp, Red Wings RW
2. Alex DeBrincat, Red Wings LW
3. Erik Karlsson, Penguins D

THE INJURIES

• Defenseman Will Butcher is sidelined with an undisclosed injury sustained at the end of last season. He has resumed skating with a group in a non-contact capacity. He will be put on waivers to be sent down to Wilkes-Barre once healthy. He is on season-opening injured reserve, so his cap hit does not count.

• Forward Raivis Ansons is dealing with an upper-body injury sustained in the last month of the AHL season. He has resumed skating on his own. He will also be re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton once healthy and is also on season-opening injured reserve.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Reilly Smith - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Drew O'Connor - Lars Eller - Jansen Harkins
Matt Nieto - Noel Acciari - Jeff Carter

Ryan Graves - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Erik Karlsson
P.O Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel

And for Derek Lalonde's Red Wings

Alex DeBrincat - Dylan Larkin - Lucas Raymond
Michael Rasmussen - J.T. Compher - Andrew Copp
David Perron - Joe Veleno - Daniel Sprong
Klim Kostin - Austin Czarnik - Christian Fischer

Jake Walman - Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot - Jeff Petry
Olli Maatta - Shayne Gostisbehere

THE MULTIMEDIA  THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins flew back home after the game and will practice at the Lemieux Complex at 12 p.m. Thursday. Next game is on Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern in St. Louis,

THE CONTENT

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