On the west side, Penguins forward Jeff Carter finds success on the left side

Jeff Carter is back in a familiar place where he has enjoyed a lot of success.

Los Angeles.

A vital component of the Kings’ only two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and ‘14, Carter has a lot of warm memories of life on the West Coast.

He likely will add another Thursday when he plays the Kings as an opponent for the first time since he was traded to the Penguins on April 12.

Earlier in the week, Carter enjoyed another positive evocation in Southern California, albeit roughly 30 miles south down Interstate 5, during the Penguins 4-1 road win against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

And he did it in a new place.

The left wing.

During that contest, the Penguins deployed Carter at a position where he has little to no history with throughout his 17-year career.

The initial results were fantastic as he produced two goals.

But Carter wasn’t utilized on the port side simply for his offensive acumen. Penguins coaches wanted him to make life easier for center Evgeni Malkin, who was playing his first game in roughly seven months following a lengthy recovery from offseason knee surgery.

As a result, Carter handled most of the faceoffs for the second line as well as many of the defensive responsibilities usually foisted upon the center position within the Penguins’ schematics. Kasperi Kapanen manned the right wing.

“That was part of the thought process in putting (Carter) on (Malkin’s) line,” coach Mike Sullivan said to media in Anaheim on Tuesday. “He’s a real good defensive player. He’s good on faceoffs. He’s a right-hand shot. He can take them on his backhand on the right side. (Malkin), we weren’t sure if he was going to be comfortable in the faceoffs. It’s been a long time since he’s taken a faceoff in a hockey game. We wanted to make sure that we surrounded (Malkin) with the right people that could help him have success.

“He has chemistry with (Kapanen) offensively. (Carter) brings kind of a defensive conscience to that line with the ability to play center and take faceoffs, play down low if we need him to. But he also has a scoring touch as we saw in the first period. That was part of the thought process going into the line combination (Tuesday night).”

Another consideration that went into how the Penguins deployed their lines Tuesday was manpower. They are short six players — five of which are forwards — because of medical maladies, primarily related to the NHL’s protocols for covid-19.

That situation seemingly changes by the day. So Carter’s station on Malkin’s left side might be temporary, and he could quickly be moved back to his customary role as a center.

But the positive results that came out of Tuesday’s game provided a lot of confidence for all parties involved should the Penguins need to return to it or even maintain it regardless of the status of the team’s other forwards.

“Pretty good, eh?” Carter said to media in Los Angeles on Wednesday. “It looked like he didn’t miss a beat. (Malkin), I’ve been watching him for however long it’s been since he’s been on the ice (rehabilitating). He’s something special. The way he goes about and his skill level and the way he thinks the game, it’s pretty amazing.

“(Kapanen) and I were talking during the game, it’s just his confidence. The plays he’s making and taking guys on one-on-one after seven months off, it’s something special to watch. It’s a lot of fun to play with him.”

Notes: The Penguins recalled forwards Drew O’Connor and Filip Hallander from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. O’Connor was assigned to the NHL roster, and Hallander was placed on the taxi squad.

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