Penguins modify all 4 lines, stomp Flyers

The Pittsburgh Penguins altered all four of their lines Saturday out of necessity.

There were two reasons for the augmentation.

First, and most tangibly, they learned Friday they would be without the services of forward Nick Bonino for several weeks because of a lacerated kidney he suffered Thursday. His absence prompted the recall of forward Alex Nylander from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday.

Second, and most profoundly, they wanted to affect balance throughout their lineup and spread their skill, allowing it to trickle down from their top two lines to the bottom two groups.

That pursuit was successful as they defeated the rival Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1, at PPG Paints Arena in a contest that saw the hosts generate offense from their top three lines in five-on-five situations as well as from their top power-play unit.

With Bryan Rust elevated to the top line alongside mainstays Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, Nylander found a home on the second line with Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker.

That allowed Rickard Rakell to ply his considerable talents on the third line working with Mikael Granlund and Drew O’Connor. And with Bonino absent, the beleaguered Jeff Carter centered the fourth line flanked by Josh Archibald and Danton Heinen.

“We’ve got a lot of games in a short period of time, and we need four lines to get this done here,” said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who recorded his 400th career win. “We put combinations together today that we thought gave us balance throughout the lineup. We could utilize guys that can play to their strengths in different situations. And that’s what we tried to do.”

Rakell opened the scoring with his 22nd goal of the season 5:52 into regulation.

After Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson made a strong play to keep the puck in the offensive zone at the left point, the Penguins’ third-liners controlled play along the end boards for a bit before Granlund settled the puck on the right half wall and dished it to Pettersson above the left circle. Surveying for a shot, Pettersson chucked a wrister at the cage that was deflected by the shaft of Rakell’s stick from the left of the crease behind goaltender Carter Hart’s blocker on the near side. Pettersson and Granlund had assists. It was Granlund’s first point since he joined the Penguins via a trade March 1.

“Whenever you can get a little bit of space in front of the net and get some time to see the shots — (Pettersson) had a great look from the blue line — you always want to take advantage of those chances,” Rakell said. “So it was nice to see it go in.”

What wasn’t nice — from the Penguins’ perspective — was the Flyers’ lone goal at 10:04 of the first period.

Wrangling a loose puck at his own blue line, Flyers forward Kieffer Bellows surged through the neutral zone and gained the offensive zone facing minimal resistance. With Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin obstructing him a bit, Bellows snapped a wrister from above the right circle that toasted goaltender Casey DeSmith’s blocker on the far side. Defenseman Justin Braun logged the lone assist.

Criticism of DeSmith’s play on the goal was blunt … from DeSmith.

“One of the worst I’ve let in this league probably,” said DeSmith who stopped 30 of 31 shots and boosted his record to 13-13-4. “Obviously, would love to have it back. But just happy that I could answer and play the rest of the game solid. Obviously, the team picked me up there.”

A power-play goal by Crosby restored a lead for the hosts at 6:49 of the second period.

Chasing down a loose puck above the Flyers’ left circle, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang backhanded a pass across the ice to Crosby who then offloaded it to Guentzel in the slot. Considering his options for a moment, Guentzel dished a forehand pass back to Crosby in the right circle and the Penguins’ captain clapped a one-timer over Hart’s glove on the near side for his team-best 29th goal. Guentzel and Letang tallied assists.

Flyers forward Owen Tippett was hobbled on the sequence after blocking a shot by Letang. During the Penguins’ celebration, Tippett made his way to the bench and retreated to the dressing room in considerable discomfort. He eventually returned to the ice later in the period.

Things were tight through most of the contest as the Flyers, one of the NHL’s worst outfits this season, played an honest, low-event game. But eventually, the Penguins’ talent secured a lopsided result with a trio of scores in the third period.

Zucker put the Penguins up by two at the 14:24 mark with his 23rd goal, as well as his eighth in the past seven games.

After Malkin beat Flyers forward Morgan Frost on a draw in Philadelphia’s left circle, Pettersson whacked a one-timer from the center point. Battling Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov just below the left circle, Zucker managed to get his stick on the puck and re-directed it on net. Hart appeared to make the save at first but allowed the puck to leak through his equipment and into the cage. Pettersson and Malkin were credited with assists.

Guentzel got his 27th goal on an empty net at the 18:22 mark off assists from Carter and Dumoulin.

Granlund got his first goal since joining the Penguins (and 10th of the season) 42 seconds later.

Controlling the puck in his own right corner, Penguins defenseman Dmitry Kulikov spun away from Bellows and snapped a stretch pass to the center red line for Granlund. Accepting the puck, Granlund spun to his left, gained the offensive zone and lasered a wrister from the left circle under the glove of a haggard Hart. Kulikov and defensive partner Jan Rutta registered assists. It was Kulikov’s first point since joining the Penguins via trade March 3.

“There’s a lot of different situations you’re out there (for),” Granlund said of his current station as the third-line center. “Whatever it is, you just try to do your best. Obviously, we got to contribute today. So that’s good. We know it’s a deep team and every line can score.”

On Saturday, the Penguins found balance and success by mixing up every one of their lines.

“We needed to find a way to have a full balanced lineup,” Zucker said. “(Today), it obviously worked well for us.”

Notes:

• Prior to the game, Sullivan announced Bonino underwent a procedure for his injury and was scheduled to be released from the hospital on Saturday. Bonino, who will be sidelined on a “week-to-week” basis, was officially scratched on Saturday.

• Penguins defensemen P.O Joseph and Chad Ruhwedel were healthy scratches.

• Guentzel reclaimed sole possession of the NHL lead for empty net goals with seven. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is second with six.

• Crosby recorded his 122nd career point (in 82 games) against the Flyers. Only fellow Penguins icon Mario Lemieux (124 points in 71 games) has more points against the Flyers in NHL history.

• Granlund became the 554th player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.

• Dumoulin (131 points) surpassed forward Al McDonough (130) for 71st place on the franchise’s career scoring list.