Penguins notebook: 'Home' ice played a small role in Game 3 loss

While the NHL’s entire postseason tournament is being orchestrated in what are essentially neutral sites between Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena and Edmonton’s Rogers Place, there are designated home and road teams for each contest.

The Penguins, as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, have home ice advantage, so to speak, over the 12th-seeded Montreal Canadiens and as a result, served as the home team in Games 1 and 2 then served as the road team for Game 3.

That might seem like small detail, but the home team is afforded the final personnel change before faceoffs. That wrinkle in the rules allowed the Canadiens to stymie a late offensive push by the Penguins during their 4-3 victory in Game 3 on Wednesday.

With 2:12 remaining in regulation, the Penguins, trailing by a goal, were on a power play and lined up for a faceoff in the Canadiens’ left circle. Just before the puck dropped, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan attempted to pull goaltender Matt Murray for an extra attacker.

Canadiens coach Claude Julien protested the move, and officials made Murray return to his cage.

“I called the referee,” Julien said via video conference from Toronto. “I said, ‘They can’t make that change after you put your arm up and we make our change.’ They decided to pull their goaltender. I brought it to (the officials’) attention.”

Beyond that specific scenario, Sullivan didn’t see much of a difference in how he deployed his personnel compared to Games 1 and 2.

“I don’t think it was significant,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, when you’re the away team, you can’t control the (matchups) as much as you like. In the first few games, there were a lot of matches I think that both coaches wanted. They certainly didn’t shy away from them. From that standpoint, I’m not sure there was a significant difference. There were some throughout the course of (Game 3) where we would have potentially did something different. But that’s just the nature of the game when you’re the away team.”

For the players, the change in designation almost appeared to be cosmetic more than anything.

“Obviously, the home team gets last change,” Penguins forward Teddy Blueger said. “But I don’t think line matching was a huge factor (in Game 3). The biggest change was the jersey colors and which way you’re shooting. But I don’t think that had any big impact on the outcome.”

“I don’t think either coach is glued to certain matchups, per se,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. “That’s really the biggest thing, but it doesn’t feel that way playing. That’s something you’d have to ask (the coaches). But as a player, it doesn’t feel like it changes a whole lot besides the last change. With that, it doesn’t look like it’s a huge game of trying to match lines out there.”

Lips sealed on lineup

If the Penguins are planning on any personnel changes going into Friday’s must-win Game 4, they’re keeping that in-house.

“If were to make any personnel changes, I probably would’t share it with (media),” Sullivan said. “That would be something that we keep amongst our team.

“Any time a coach or a group makes changes, there’s always an element of risk associated with it. But one could argue there’s an element of risk associated with not making a change as well. That’s just the world that we live in as coaches. We’re just going to try to make the best decisions that we can that we think give our team the best chance to win. That’s the question we try to answer each and every game.”

Vague vote

The Penguins’ third defensive pairing of Jack Johnson and Justin Schultz was on the ice for the Canadiens’ first three goals in Game 3 as well as two goals against in Game 1 on Saturday.

Sullivan was vague when asked what his confidence level in that duo was.

“I have a lot of confidence in our whole group,” Sullivan said.

Follow the Penguins all season long.