Penguins forward Sam Lafferty hopes to learn from healthy scratch

After being a healthy scratch on Monday, Pittsburgh Penguins rookie forward Sam Lafferty could find himself back in the lineup for Thursday’s home game against the San Jose Sharks.

On Wednesday, with forward Jake Guentzel sidelined following surgery on his right shoulder, Lafferty skated on the right wing of the fourth line with Dominik Kahun at left wing and Joseph Blandisi at center.

“It’s definitely a learning lesson,” Lafferty said. “It’s something that I’ve been through before when I first got to (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton). I know how to approach it. You look at why, then you look at what you do different and what you can work on to get better. That’s the way I’m taking it. I’ve just to keep working and keep getting better.

“When your number is called, the way I look at it is that it’s an opportunity. The next chance I get, I’m going to go out there.”

Prior to being scratched, Lafferty had gone 10 consecutive games without a point.

“I had a conversation with him on why we made the the decision that we made,” Sullivan said. “(Assistant coach Mark Recchi) sat with him and watched his shifts to try to point out some of the areas where we feel he needs to be better and more consistent in order for him to play to his strengths and help us win games. Part of my responsibility as the coach is to try to define a player’s individual game and how they need to play to help us win. With young players, I think it’s even more so.

“We’ve communicated with Sam, and we’ve shown him on film and given him specific examples in the games and areas where we think he could make better decisions that could give him an opportunity to play to his strengths. We believe this is just part of the process for the player to help him improve his overall game.”

A native of Hollidaysburg, Lafferty has appeared in 31 games this season and has 10 points (four goals, six assists).

Notes:

• The lines and pairs in practice Wednesday were:

Alex Galchenyuk — Evgeni Malkin — Bryan Rust

Dominik Simon — Jared McCann — Patric Hornqvist

Zach Aston—Reese — Teddy Blueger — Brandon Tanev

Dominik Kahun — Joseph Blandisi — Sam Lafferty

Jack Johnson — Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson — John Marino

Juuso Riikola — Chad Ruhwedel

• The top power-play unit included Hornqvist, Letang, Malkin, McCann and Rust. The second power-play unit was Aston-Reese, Galchenyuk, Kahun, Marino and Riikola.

• Penguins forward Sidney Crosby skated prior to practice with coaches. There remains no time table for his return to the lineup as he recovers from surgery for a core muscle injury. He has not played since Nov. 9.

• Forward Nick Bjugstad, also sidelined because of a core muscle ailment, had a scheduled day off. He has been sidelined since Nov. 15.

• Defenseman Justin Schultz remains off the ice as he recovers from an undisclosed injury he suffered Dec. 17. According to Sullivan, Schultz is engaged in his prescribed off-ice rehabilitation.

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