Penguins recall Hellberg, try new line combinations in practice
A new day and new ideas for the Pens
The Penguins officially recalled goalie Marcus Hellberg, but it appears to be simply precautionary.
The Penguins have recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg from the @WBSPenguins. pic.twitter.com/fHmL1iHAlr
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 19, 2024
Mike Sullivan said that one of the NHL goalie hadn’t been feeling well recently. Hellberg did not practice with the team today and Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic were both good to go, so there’s that.
The Penguins tried out some new combinations in practice:
Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Drew O’Connor - Evgeni Malkin - Matthew Phillips
Reilly Smith - Lars Eller - Valtteri Puustinen
Jansen Harkins - Jeff Carter - Colin White
P.O Joseph / Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves / Chad Ruhwedel
Jesse Puljujarvi and John Ludvig skated as the extras and potential scratches for tomorrow night’s game against the Islanders.
The biggest changes are the opportunities that appear to on deck for Phillips and Joseph.
Phillips probably figures to be second line with the usage and minutes in the same way that Puljujarvi before him (about 14) but a chance is a chance. The Malkin line needs something, and the diminutive Phillips does have some skill in his hands if he can find the time and space to operate.
On defense, Joseph’s elevation from healthy scratch to top pair is about as whipsaw of a change as it gets. And also speaks to how in flux and unappealing the left side defense has been playing lately (so much for a Ryan Graves post-All Star uptick).
Both Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson mentioned searching for a spark today in separate interviews. That fitting word seems to be in buzz now for the team.
Thoughtful answer from Erik Karlsson about being part of a group with high expectations that's struggling to meet them at this point in the season: pic.twitter.com/eYQEEOGFB1
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) February 19, 2024
Can Phillips or Joseph provide such a spark? We shall see. Karlsson is right in the above, the team is so far behind the 8-ball right now they shouldn’t even be mentioning the playoffs at this point. Just getting back to scoring three or four goals per game and taking some wins for now would be a good start, before they plain run completely out of time.