Reilly Smith Moved to Penguins First Line
The Pittsburgh Penguins are giving their successful first line a new look.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have struggled to find wins over the past few games, going 2-0-3 in the last five contests.
In an effort to promote more success not only for the Penguins but their players, head coach Mike Sullivan made some changes to the lines.
The first line has been among some of the best producers in the league, but they’ve been given a shuffle.
Bryan Rust was moved to the second line for Reilly Smith who has gone without a goal in 14 straight games.
Smith has picked up only two assists in that time after an extremely hot start with Evgeni Malkin.
To kick off the year, Smith and Malkin showed sparks of an immediate chemistry.
Malkin has had his own struggles as of late recording only four points (2G-2A) in his last 10 games.
Drew O’Connor has spent the last few games on the second line with Rickard Rakell out of the lineup, and he stays put, just on the opposite wing.
The forward lines against the Tampa Bay Lightning are as follows:
Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Reilly Smith
Drew O’Connor – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust
Radim Zohorna – Lars Eller – Alex Nylander
Jansen Harkins – Joona Koppanen – Jeff Carter
The defensive pairings have seen no change:
Ryan Graves – Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson – Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea – John Ludvig
Tristan Jarry is starting in net for the Penguins.
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