Penguins encouraged by new 2nd line's play so far

A few inches in either direction and the Pittsburgh Penguins might have had the first lead in what ended up being a 4-3 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.

But even if forward Evgeni Malkin’s backhander was snuffed out by goaltender Antti Raanta 5 minutes, 25 seconds into regulation, it was an impressive display of alchemy for a line that hasn’t existed for that long.

Lugging the puck up ice from the right of his cage, Malkin fed a pass to linemate Danton Heinen just outside the offensive blue line. With four Hurricanes defenders surrounding him, Heinen slipped a clever backhand pass to Malkin, streaking behind him. Generating a breakaway from the blue line, Malkin attacked the net and attempted to tuck a backhander into the cage, only to be denied by Raanta.

Three nights earlier, during a 4-1 road loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, that line, which includes Jeff Carter, generated the team’s only offense.

After Carter gained the offensive zone and lost the puck, Malkin claimed possession in the left circle and scored on a rebound scramble at 3:33 of the third period.

“The last couple of games, I played with (Carter) and (Heinen),” Malkin said. “I think we’re pretty good. … I focus on my game, first of all. When I play my best, I think I give my wingers a chance to score. I hope we play the same line longer, we’ll understand each other more, the chemistry is better and I hope we help (the) team win.”

The base elements of a viable second line appear to be in place, albeit through the lens of a small sample size. In the two games that trio primarily has been deployed, it has been on the ice for 27 shots attempts for and only 14 attempts against according to Natural Stat Trick.

If nothing else, that line has appeased its coach.

“They’ve shown an ability to be a real effective line,” Mike Sullivan said. “That line, since we’ve made that change, has had more offensive zone time. They’ve been pretty good since we put them together. Whether or not we stay with them moving forward, time will tell. But based on the players that we have available to us right now, we just felt that was the right decision.”

Heinen seems to have a pretty firm grasp on what his role is with the line.

“(Malkin), he sees the ice so well,” Heinen said. “He makes such high-end plays. I’ve got to be ready to shoot and go to the net and kind of get the puck in his hands.”

Reirden on the mend

AP

Penguins assistant coach Todd Reirden.

Sullivan offered an update on assistant coach Todd Reirden, who underwent surgery for a knee injury Feb. 14 and has been limited to working remotely from home.

“Todd is making progress,” Sullivan said. “He still hasn’t come into the rink yet, but he’s been part of our coaches meetings. We met as a coaching staff this morning, for example, and (he joined via video conference). He’s participating with the coaching staff in that regard right now. He’s doing really well. The surgery was successful, he’s on the mend. … I don’t anticipate (his return to the rink) is going to be long. In the very near future, he’s going to be able come into the rink and do a lot of the things that he does behind the scenes, he’s just going not going to be able to go on the ice.”

Bjorkqvist is back

Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

In seven NHL games this season, Penguins forward Kasper Bjorkqvist has one goal.

The Penguins recalled forward Kasper Bjorkqvist from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Wednesday.

A rookie, Bjorkqvist has appeared in six NHL games this season and has one goal. Additionally, he has played in 33 AHL contests and has scored six points (four goals, two assists).

Signed to a one-year, two-way contract that carries a salary cap hit of $750,000, Bjorkqvist has been recalled to the NHL level on two previous occasions this season, including in January when he made his NHL debut.

Bjorkqvist, 24, was a second-round pick (No. 61 overall) in 2016.