Penguins defensemen aim to build rapport quickly as goals against mount, pairings change

The Pittsburgh Penguins, losers of nine of their past 11 games, can’t afford to be overly patient with their lineup.

Suffice to say, as long as the Penguins remain mired in their current skid, no player should be under the illusion that individual deployments will not be subject to immediate change.

Coach Mike Sullivan has made that increasingly apparent with the team’s defensive pairings, which, over the last week and a half, have fluctuated considerably.

Most notably, Brian Dumoulin’s struggles saw him demoted from the team’s top pairing to the No. 3 pairing a week ago. Marcus Pettersson moved to the top unit alongside Kris Letang, and Dumoulin joined Jan Rutta on the third pairing.

Since then, Dumoulin has moved up to skate with Jeff Petry on the second pair, with Rutta, Chad Ruhwedel and P.O Joseph cycling in on the bottom unit as Sullivan searches for the best duos. Joseph has not played since Nov. 9 because of an undisclosed injury.

“When you have the ability to keep one combination of defense pairs together and stable, it provides an opportunity to build chemistry and learn and understand each other’s tendencies,” Sullivan said. “That’s the benefit of having stable defense pairs and line combinations.

“In the event that we’re going through some of the experiences that we’re going through, when we’re not having success, we’re trying to tinker with the different combinations to see if we can be proactive to effect some positive change.”

In making changes to his defensive pairings, Sullivan must take into account the differing playing styles of his personnel.

For Letang and Petry, the Penguins’ more aggressive defensemen who thrive in the offensive zone, skating with an on-ice foil of sorts, in Pettersson and Dumoulin, creates balance.

Ultimately, there is a responsibility on the players’ shoulders to understand the style and tendencies of their partners.

“For me, I like to be up in the play, but you could be paired with somebody that’s very similar in style and does that well, so the last thing you want to do is get too deep in the (offensive) zone,” Petry said. “In that sense, you have to be cognizant of where your partner is on the ice and what he’s doing.”

As the Penguins continue to stumble out of the gate heading into a three-game road trip that starts Thursday in Minnesota, Sullivan has had little choice but to mix things up.

“Me and (Pettersson) went through a stretch there where we were together for a long time — 10 or 15 games or whatever it is,” Petry said. “… It’s nice when you have a consistent partner, but obviously when things are going the way they are, things are shuffling around, it’s important to build that chemistry as quickly as possible. Communication and talking with each other on the bench, on the ice and making sure we’re helping each other out.”

With future pairings being uncertain, the Penguins’ corps of defensemen has no choice but to develop chemistry as quickly as possible.

Unless a winning streak suddenly breaks out, a revolving door of pairings might continue.

“You build on it. I think it could be better, but you build on it game by game and try to play as well as you can day by day,” Pettersson said. “ … We try to take it game by game, shift by shift, talk about things on the bench and figure things out.”