Penguins forward Danton Heinen returns to lineup
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Danton Heinen returned to the lineup for Tuesday’s home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena.
With forward Ryan Poehling scratched because of an undisclosed injury, Heinen replaced him on the left wing of the team’s fourth line to open the contest. He was joined by Teddy Blueger at center and Josh Archibald on the right wing.
Heinen had been a healthy scratch for the previous three games. Before being scratched, Heinen had gone 17 consecutive games without a goal.
“Danton is a good player,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said following his team’s optional morning skate Tuesday. “He has good offensive instincts. I think he’ll bring an offensive dimension to the lineup. When he’s strong on the wall, when he’s conscientious defensively, all of those things, I think his overall game gets better, improves. He ends up with better offensive looks when he focuses on those things. That’s just been my experience in coaching him. But he’s a very good player for us.
“He’s a guy that can help us in so many different ways on both sides of the puck. But in particular, I think he’ll bring an offensive dimension to the bottom six with his instincts and his scoring ability.
“We just want him to bring consistency, shift in and shift out. And focus on the details (with) things like wall play on the breakouts and decisions with the puck through the neutral zone, being hard on pucks in the puck battles.
“When Danton does those things, I think he’s a real good player for us.”
As for Poehling, he is considered “day to day” because of his ailment. The team hasn’t specified when he was injured, but he did not record a shift for the final 6:36 of regulation in Saturday’s 6-2 home win against the St. Louis Blues.
Tuesday’s game was the first contest he has missed this season.
Letang continues to skate
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang lightly skated before Tuesday’s optional morning skate. He was joined on the ice by Poehling as well as assistant coach Ty Hennes.
Sidelined since suffering a stroke Nov. 28, Letang has been scratched the past three games and remains sidelined indefinitely.
Sullivan indicated he remains “status quo” in his recovery.
Penguins avoid penalties
Before Tuesday, the Penguins had averaged 7:45 in penalty minutes per contest, fourth-fewest in the NHL.
Not coincidentally, the Penguins were in the black in terms of puck possession before Tuesday, as they controlled 51.5% of shot attempts per Natural Stat Trick.
The correlation between those two figures is that if a team controls the puck, it is less likely to take a penalty.
For Sullivan, his team’s ability to control the puck is one of two attributes that have led to infrequent residencies in the penalty box.
Plain and simple discipline is the other.
“Obviously, when you have the puck, that certainly helps because you’re not defending as much,” Sullivan said. “Most penalty infractions come when you’re defending. I give the players credit because I think there’s a certain discipline to your stick detail and things like that. So, you don’t put yourself in positions where you fall victim of careless stick infractions or things of that nature. That type of discipline is really important to set your team up for success.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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