Sullivan makes drastic lineup changes as Penguins look to get their Western swing off to a good start
With the Penguins carrying three goaltenders on their Western Road Trip beginning in Winnipeg Sunday, head coach Mike Sullivan reiterated that they will start whoever gives them the best chance to win.
It appears they have an idea about who that is right now.
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, fresh off a conditioning stint in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after a week-to-week injured reserve stint, will get the nod against the Jets on Sunday, with rookie Joel Blomqvist serving as his backup.
Tristan Jarry will be a healthy scratch.
In addition, there will be a lot of lineup changes in Winnipeg.
Forward Micheal Bunting is out, and Valtteri Puustinen will make his season debut. The Penguins have also shuffled their lines quite drastically. Some notable changes:
- Anthony Beauvillier takes Drew O'Connor's spot on the third line left wing, and vice versa.
- Cody Glass bumps up to the third line on Lars Eller's right wing, with Noel Acciari shifting to center on the fourth line and Puustinen filling Glass's spot.
- Rickard Rakell shifts to the left wing on Evgeni Malkin's line to make way for Jesse Puljujarvi to bump up to the top-six on Malkin's right.
Ryan Shea will also start his second game of the season instead of Jack St. Ivany.
"At the end of the day, performance matters," Sullivan said. "We're going to try and put people in the lineup who give us the best chance to win at all the respective positions. That's ultimately what we're trying to do. As a coach, sometimes there's big picture stuff, and there's short term things we think about when we're making those decisions."
Winnipeg is a strong defensive team and is currently second in the league in goals-per-game at 4.5. However, the Penguins played the Jets well last season. They are going to need to play a high-energy, "urgent" game to match the Jets' threat.
"Urgency is always going to be part of the discussion with respect to how we make decisions on a game by game basis," Sullivan said. "With the parity in the league the way it is, two points in October are a real important two points when you're in the first week of April."
Pittsburgh went 1-1 against Winnipeg, allowing only two goals over two games and scoring four. They played a tight defensive game and were strong on the forecheck, which is something they'll have to do again Sunday in order to secure the win.