The Pittsburgh Penguins have gotten off to a pretty good start to begin the 2025-26 season, as they are 4-2 on the season and came away from their California road trip 2-1. During the trip, they were getting contributions both offensively and defensively from their entire lineup.
Even with some players rotating in and out, one line - aside from one game - that has been relatively consistent is the Penguins' fourth line of Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte, and Noel Acciari. And not only have they been consistent, they've also been effective.
Through five games together, the trio - mostly deployed in defensive situations - has contributed a 39.4 percent expected goals share, and they are also logging relatively heavy minutes for a fourth line. Dewar, Lizotte, and Acciari are averaging 13:17, 14:00, and 13:14 of ice time per game, respectively, as head coach Dan Muse and the Penguins are rolling all four lines this season.
Whatever they're doing, it seems to be working.
"I think we just play simple ," Lizotte said. "We don't overcomplicate things. Connor works incredibly hard and is a horse, and he protects pucks well. And, along with Acciari, or even Hallander, whoever we have with us... we all play a simple game and get pucks to the net. I think, so far, it's been that simplicity and that work ethic that's been good for us."
Acciari seemed to agree about the simplicity bit, and along with that simplicity comes an expectation and understanding of where each guy is going to be on the ice.
"I think [it helps] just knowing where each other are out there and just keeping it simple," Acciari said. "I think the biggest part is just knowing where we are, and it makes things a lot easier that we're not complicating things and just trying to play a simple game out there."
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When the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> embarked on their three-game California road swing at the beginning of the week, they had begun the season 2-1 and hoped to continue carrying that momentum on the West Coast.
Dewar, Lizotte, and Acciari have been a spark plug of sorts for the Penguins. Lizotte agrees that they consider themselves an energy line, but it's not just about the defensive side of the puck for the unit.
Like some other lines on the team - and per new head coach Dan Muse's philosophies about playing connected and responsibly - the line is generating opportunity, in large part, because of their play away from the puck and in transition.
Good defense is leading to offense, and that has been the case so far with the fourth line.
"I just think the work away from the puck... it starts with that," Muse said. "[They're] putting themselves in really good positions there, both on the defensive side and, then, offensively. I feel like they're creating a lot there, as a starting point, just off the way they work. There's some transition situations, there's some second opportunities in the offensive zone that are created just by their work. And I think that's been kind of a big driving force for them."
And - as mentioned before - another factor in the line's early success has, simply, come from seeing the ice a lot more this season than last. Muse isn't afraid to deploy all four lines, and he isn't afraid to put them in a wider variety of situations.
The uptick in minutes is especially true for Lizotte, whose average ice time in the early part of the season is a minute and 17 seconds higher than it was last season.
"I think that's huge," Lizotte said. "Everyone is kind of engaged in the game, no one's really sitting for too long unless [there are] lot of penalties or it becomes a special teams game. But, for the most part, everyone's engaged for the full 60, and I think that's part of the way 'Coach' likes to coach. I think it keeps everyone involved, and no one's sitting too long."
The trio hopes to keep piling on the early-season momentum they have, as does the rest of the team. The penalty kill - which is another thing that the three players share in common - started off the Western road swing on a rocky note, as it surrendered two goals against the Anaheim Ducks in a 4-3 loss - including the game-winner with less than two minutes left in the game.
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But, for the remainder of the trip, they locked down and surrendered no goals in four opportunities. Acciari thinks that they can build on that.
"I think we [need to] tighten up in-zone, Acciari said. "At the end of that trip, we were really able to do that and make it difficult for teams to break in the zone. And, if we can do that - and not even give them time to set up - I think we could kill a lot of time there.
"It's still early, and [we're] still learning things and just kind of tweaking things. But, overall, I think just little tweaks here and there, especially depending on the team... if we're all on the same page, I think it will get going."
And Lizotte thinks the same message applies across the board heading into their home game against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
"There were some learning moments," Lizotte said. "I think we could've come away with more points on the road trip, but it's really early in the year. We'll look to grow from those mistakes. Overall, you can't ask for much more on a road trip than that, but coming back home, it's time to build off of that and continue that at home."
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