The Pittsburgh Penguins practiced on Wednesday, and a lot happened.
The Pittsburgh Penguins held their final practice before Thursday's game against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.
They practiced for less than an hour on Wednesday after multiple sessions that went over 80 minutes on Sunday and Monday. Wednesday's practice featured Samuel Girard on a pair with Kris Letang after the former was acquired by the Penguins from the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. The Penguins also got a 2028 second-round pick in that trade, while sending Brett Kulak the other way.
A Girard-Letang pairing was something I hinted at in my Tuesday column, and it has the potential to be a peak chaos pair. However, if it doesn't work out, they could look to move Girard down to the third pair with Connor Clifton or Ilya Solovyov. Ryan Shea would likely move up to the second pair with Letang in that instance.
Regardless, Girard is another puck-mover who the Penguins need on their backend. He's good in transition and exiting his own zone with control.
He's also super happy about landing in Pittsburgh.
"Very happy," Girard told SportsNet Pittsburgh's Hailey Hunter. "Like I said, it's a great organization, great players have been through here, and I'm very excited to be around those guys. Those guys have been together for a while, so very excited."
- Sidney Crosby missed practice and will be out for a minimum of four weeks with a lower-body injury. He suffered the injury during the quarterfinals of the Olympics against Czechia.
Rickard Rakell centered the top line during Wednesday's practice and is slated to stay in that spot when the Penguins play on Thursday. He had Avery Hayes and Bryan Rust as his wingers.
The Pittsburgh Penguins celebrate a goal scored by forward Rickard Rakell (67) during the second period against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images- Speaking of Rust, he knows how important that "next man" mentality is for the team since Crosby is going to be out for a bit.
"It's super important," Rust said after practice. "Anytime anybody goes out of the lineup, I think everybody's kind of got to ramp up their game a little bit. Guys are going to have opportunities to play in positions that they otherwise may not have been able to play in."
- Ben Kindel is one of many players who will likely see an increased workload with Crosby out, and he's more than ready for it.
"Just collectively as a group, everybody's going to have to step up a little bit and chip in just a little bit more," Kindel said. "I'm ready for any extra that I need to do to help the team win, and I'll always be ready for that, no matter what the situation is."
Kindel has passed every test that the coaching staff and management staff have given him this year, so what's one more?
The Penguins have dealt with injuries throughout the season, but this might be their biggest challenge yet, since it's an injury to their best player and it comes during a time when the schedule is turning nasty. Once they get past the Devils and the New York Rangers games, they'll be facing playoff team after playoff team once March starts on Sunday.
Here's what the lines looked like on Wednesday:
Forwards
Avery Hayes-Rakell-Rust
Kevin Hayes-Novak-Malkin
Mantha-Kindel-Brazeau
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Defensive pairs
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Girard-Letang
Shea-Clifton
Kevin Hayes was in Egor Chinakhov's spot on the second line since Chinakhov and his wife welcomed the birth of their first child.
Chinakhov will likely play on Thursday, meaning Hayes will be the 13th forward. He's been the 13th forward throughout practice this week.
Puck drop for Thursday's game is set for 7 p.m. ET.
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