A lot of changes have been getting made to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup, and they hope it's not just shuffling of deck chairs.
The Pittsburgh Penguins sit seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and while the team isn’t pleased with that spot, everyone is invested in a turn around.
Mike Sullivan spoke previously that the Penguins are confident in their abilities, but a few tweaks may be made.
Ahead of the game in Minnesota, Sullivan said that the team is making strategic changes to improve on the fly.
“We’re going through a process with our whole team,” Sullivan said. “We’re playing a lot of hockey.”
Sullivan used that word ‘process’ mostly discussing his usage of goalies as of late, but it can be applied to the rest of the team.
The Penguins are making changes as they go along in hopes to find something that clicks and turns into more consistent wins.
The goalie tandem of Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith is a good starting point; Jarry is in need of a big win to build momentum in his game and the Penguins need him to be better.
With a lot of games in a lot of days on the horizon, the Penguins will need the best out of both goalies.
"We're playing a lot of hockey," Sullivan said. "We're in the middle of seven games in 12 nights. We're going to rely on both guys. We need both guys to help us win."
In the practice before leaving for Minnesota, it was being hinted that Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust were swapping spots in the lineup.
The entire first line is in need of a boost and Rakell can provide that while Rust can search for his first point in six games on the second line.
“We’re trying to find combinations that can have success,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got options at our disposal.”
Sullivan stated that a way to become a better team as a whole is to maintain steadiness on the blue line.
And the Penguins defense hasn’t been alone in edits being made as part of the ‘process.’
Brian Dumoulin was given a demotion to the third defensive pairing and Marcus Pettersson was chosen to take his place.
“The route to consistent play is through defense,” Sullivan said. “I know our team is capable of scoring goals. We’re also capable of being a stingy team defensively.”
Now, it’s up to Kris Letang to find a new level on the ice, but the ‘process’ is being made in every aspect of the team.
No stone is going unturned and the Penguins hope to quickly find the form that started the season 4-0-1.
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