The trio of Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust might be the NHL’s top line, let alone the Pittsburgh Penguins’ best.

Their success largely has carried the Penguins’ five-on-five play for the bulk of the 2021-22 season.

At the same time, the Penguins have become a somewhat top-heavy squad in that regard.

In other words, the bottom three lines have been inconsistent — to be kind — for several weeks, if not months.

The notion of pulling one of the components of that dangerous top line and plugging him into a lesser role in order to generate balance is something coach Mike Sullivan admits he has ruminated over.

“Certainly, it’s not a foregone conclusion that we’re not willing to adjust Sid’s line … in order to try to create a more balanced attack,” Sullivan said last week. “That’s always on the table. That’s something that we’ve considered for a little while now.”

Consideration morphed into actual change Tuesday as the Penguins flipped right wingers Rust and Evan Rodrigues between the first and second lines.

But those alterations bore a single goal for the Penguins, who were stymied by the Nashville Predators, 4-1, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Yet, even with that result, the Penguins were almost defiant in professing satisfaction in how they played.

“We played a pretty good game,” Rodrigues said to media in Nashville. “A pretty full 60 minutes. This one stings a little bit because I thought we controlled the majority of the play.”

As for the line changes, advanced metrics complemented the Penguins’ top two lines far better than the scoreboard did.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the reconfigured top line of Guentzel, Crosby and Rodrigues was on the ice for 15 shot attempts for and only six against. Meanwhile, the second line of Danton Heinen, Evgeni Malkin and Rust saw seven shot attempts for and only three against.

“(Rodrigues) did a good job with Sid and Jake,” Sullivan said after the game. “I thought (Rust) really helped (Malkin). We had the balance that we were looking for, hoping for. Those lines played hard. We didn’t get the results on the scoreboard, but I thought they played well.”

The Predators claimed the contest’s first lead at the last second — almost literally — of the first period when defenseman Mattias Ekholm scored his fourth goal of the season at the 19-minutes, 58-second mark. An ornate five-pass sequence by the Predators led to Ekholm shuffling a forehand shot from the left circle past scrambling goaltender Casey DeSmith on the near side. Forwards Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene had assists.

Things were tied 1-1 at 14:00 of the second period thanks to Guentzel’s 29th goal. After Crosby beat Predators forward Luke Kunin on a faceoff in Nashville’s left circle, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang controlled the puck on the left half wall, waited for things to develop and slipped a clever seam pass to the right circle for Guentzel, who roofed a far-side wrister past goaltender Juuse Saros’ right shoulder. Letang and Crosby registered assists. Crosby extended a scoring streak to 10 games.

“Just a great faceoff play,” Guentzel said. “Sid winning the draw and (Letang), a nice pass. That draw takes five guys. There’s a lot of picks and whatnot. It takes the line to do that one. Just a great pass by (Letang). I’ve just got to find the net there.”

The Predators wasted little time in finding the net again on two occasions following Guentzel’s goal.

A deflection score reclaimed a lead, 2-1, for the Predators only 1:40 later. From center point of the offensive zone, Predators defenseman Roman Josi uncorked a blistering one-timer. Gaining position on Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel in the slot, Predators rookie forward Tanner Jeannot redirected the puck with his forehand past DeSmith’s blocker for his 19th goal. Josi and forward Colton Sissons netted assists.

A mere 83 seconds after that, a breakaway goal by Predators forward Eeli Tolvanen put his team up, 3-1.

From his own left corner, Josi corralled a loose puck and fed a pass to no one in particular at the blue line. In a bizarre sequence, Letang and defensive partner Mike Matheson almost collided in trying to chase it down but neither player claimed possession and the puck slid to the neutral zone, creating a breakout pass of sorts for Tolvanen.

Collecting the puck at the Penguins’ blue line, Tolvanen attacked and fired a far-side wrister from the left circle beyond DeSmith’s glove for his eighth goal. The lone assist went to Josi.

An empty-net goal by Predators forward Yakov Trenin, his 14th, capped the scoring at 18:10 of the final frame. Assists went to Sissons and Josi.

DeSmith made 21 saves on 24 shots as his record fell to 6-4-3.

The Penguins fell short Tuesday. But they weren’t short on confidence, even in defeat.

“I thought we played real well,” Sullivan said. “I really liked our energy. I loved our effort. We played the game hard tonight. We didn’t end up on the right side of the score, but if we bring that effort, we bring that commitment, we’re going to win a lot of games.”

Notes

• Penguins fourth-line forward Zach Aston-Reese was scratched because of an illness not related to covid-19. His absence prompted a return to the lineup for forward Dominik Simon, who was a healthy scratch for the previous two games.

• Penguins forward Brock McGinn (suspected right hand or arm injury) and defenseman Marcus Pettersson (healthy) were also scratched.

• Tuesday’s matchup was the first meeting of the season between the Penguins and Predators. The only team the Penguins have yet to play this season is the Colorado Avalanche.

• The Penguins’ last game against the Predators was a 6-4 home win at PPG Paints Arena on Dec. 28, 2019.

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