Penguins forward Teddy Blueger's absence is being felt on the penalty kill

Injured Penguins forward Teddy Blueger will miss the Penguins’ third game of the season, a road contest against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

Following an optional practice in Cranberry on Sunday, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan indicated Blueger will not travel with the team.

Blueger’s status remains “day to day” due to an undisclosed injury that has hindered him since Sept. 28. But he has made incremental progress in his convalescence in recent days as he has been cleared for some contact during an optional morning skate on Saturday as well as Sunday’s practice.

Previously, he had been participating in practices and morning skates while wearing an off-color non-contact jersey.

Arguably, Blueger’s absence has been most felt on the Penguins’ penalty kill. During the season opener, a 6-2 home win against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday, each of the Coyotes’ goals were scored on the power play by forward Nick Ritchie, who was able to find open space in the slot on each attacking sequence.

The Penguins’ penalty kill was 4 for 6 in that contest, leading Sullivan to bluntly assess that it “needs to be better.”

Saturday’s 6-2 home win against the Tampa Bay Lightning was better, but hardly perfect. The penalty kill was 3 for 4, allowing the opening goal of the contest to All-Star Lightning forward Steven Stamkos who cranked a comet of a one-timer from the left circle past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s left shoulder on the far side.

Following the offseason departures of forward Brian Boyle and defenseman John Marino — to say nothing of forward Zach Aston-Reese, who was traded away in March — the Penguins are working several new faces into the penalty kill, such as forwards Josh Archibald and Ryan Poehling, as well as defensemen Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta.

The absence of Blueger, whom several teammates label as a stabilizing entity on the penalty kill, has led to some lack of cohesion in short-handed sequences. Last season, Blueger led Penguins forwards in short-handed ice time with an average of 2:15 per contest.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys on our penalty kill this year, and we’re trying to get on the same page here as quickly as we can,” Sullivan said. “Teddy is not only a guy that is familiar with the scheme we have but is also very good at that particular aspect of the game. He’s just a cerebral player. He sees the ice well, he has good awareness away from the puck and his details — his stick detail, his positioning, things of that nature — it’s those subtleties that make him effective in that aspect of the game. So when he’s in not in our lineup, it’s an opportunity for other guys to step up. But certainly, it presents a challenge for our team.”

Designated sitter

AP

Last season, forward Danton Heinen served two of the Penguins’ five bench penalties.

The Penguins took their first bench penalty of the season on Saturday after being nabbed for too many men on the ice at 15:03 of the second period. By rule, the coach can select who serves that penalty and in that case, forward Danton Heinen spent two minutes in the penalty box.

Last season, the Penguins took five such penalties according to Evolving Hockey. Former forward Dominik Simon served three of those infractions while Heinen accounted for the other two.

What goes into who is the “designated sitter?”

“I like to have a guy coming out of the box that has offensive instincts that might have the ability to take advantage of a circumstance when he’s coming out of the box, (such as) springing him for a breakaway,” Sullivan said. “There’s a handful of those around the league that take place throughout the course of the season. We want to be able to maximize that opportunity with someone coming out of the penalty box.

“You also have to think in terms of what happens if there’s another penalty and things of that nature. That’s why we don’t put a player like (forwards Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel or Evgeni Malkin) in there. There’s a lot that goes into it, just trying to think in advance of what potentially could occur within that two-minute time frame that person is in the penalty box. Having said that, we want a player that has the ability to take advantage of a situation if it presents itself when they come out of the box.”

Note: In addition to Blueger, those who practiced on Sunday included forwards Kasperi Kapanen, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Jason Zucker, Archibald, Crosby and Guentzel; defensemen Brian Dumoulin, P.O Joseph, Kris Letang and Chad Ruhwedel; and goaltender Casey DeSmith.

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