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Penguins back at home... and healthy? |
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It’s been a while since the Penguins have been home to host a game. It has been even longer since they’ve been fully healthy, like all the way to last year long. It is looking like the Penguins finally have their entire complement of players. There will be some decisions that have to be made with a full roster. Players who have gotten regular time may be on the outside looking in at the moment.
These are the line rushes from yesterday as the Penguins are having an optional skate today and are missing players
I do not see this configuration as being the best the Penguins have to offer and I’m not even sold on it being used tonight. Danton Heinen and Zach Aston-Reese were returning from COVID absences and they are probably just working them back in. Dominik Simon has been exactly what he’s always been. A player who does nice things, but has literally no ability to score goals. This puts him at risk of being on the outside looking in. Brian Boyle was an emergency signing who has played better than anticipated, but if everybody is healthy he is not in my top 12.
Danton Heinen would be a lock for a lineup I would put together. Whether that is with Malkin (less likely with Zucker looking to be planted there) or Jeff Carter. Heinen has a scoring touch and some offensive ability which I want in the lineup. Zach Aston-Reese is not a guarantee to be in the lineup for me. Dominik Simon’s issue is he can’t score, but neither can Aston-Reese and Simon’s skillset is more gifted with the puck which is something I value. The good news is these arguments are on the very fringe of the lineup. The emergence of Evan Rodrigues plugs a huge vacant hole that otherwise would have been super obvious. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good when you are running a team because nobody can sit there and pretend they thought this was going to be the year Evan Rodrigues blew up. It’s amazing what his play has done to the makeup of the forward lines wherever you slot him.
Casey DeSmith also returned from a COVID break and it was he and Louis Domingue at the morning skate today. Tristan Jarry was not out on the ice which means it is likely he won’t be starting tonight. My guess is he is backing up Domingue and ceded his reps at practice to DeSmith who is cold. Jarry will likely start tomorrow night against the Blue Jackets. Domingue is coming off an excellent performance in San Jose and definitely earned another look.
Edit: So Jarry is starting, so there's that
Here is what the power play looked like
There is certainly an argument for Rodrigues staying on the first unit, but if they are going to play him with Jeff Carter on the third line at even strength it makes sense to not totally jumble the lines and just have him play on the second unit while leaving the first line intact.
Matt Murray is back in Pittsburgh, but he will not be starting. It will be Anton Forsberg. Murray’s fall from grace did not end with his departure from Pittsburgh. He hasn’t had a good time in Ottawa to the point they demoted him to the AHL this season. Make no mistake without Murray those two Cups in a row don’t happen, but it has been a free fall since.
All the postponements this season have forced the league to rearrange the schedule. The NHL skipping the Olympics in China has given them some flexibility in rescheduling and this is what it will look like for the Penguins
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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