The simple move of putting Rickard Rakell back on the first line might make a huge difference for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The past few games hasn’t been pretty for the first line of the Pittsburgh Penguins; they’ve been unable to produce offensively and given up a huge number of scoring chances the other way.
Things may be getting back on track, though, and all it took was for the Penguins to make one little move.
Rickard Rakell started the season on the first line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel and the trio was lights out.
Those three helped lead the way for the Penguins to hit a record of 4-0-1 through five games.
Some injuries occurred and Rakell was dropped to the second line where he still flourished, but the first line hit a rut.
As the Penguins traveled to Minnesota, head coach Mike Sullivan moved Rakell back to the first line and it was like a light switch was flipped.
All three of Crosby, Guentzel, and Rakell scored at least a point; Guentzel has three points with a goal and two assists, while Crosby led the way with a pair of goals and assists for four points.
Bryan Rust is usually a great addition to the Penguins first line, but his recent skid has left Sullivan no choice but to move him.
Without a point against the Wild, Rust has now reached seven games without a point.
It’s only one game, but add this on to the first few games of the season and that should be all of the evidence needed to keep Rakell on the top line.
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