Penguins notebook: Forward Tommy Novak practices on 2nd line

In the midst of a scoring surge, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Tommy Novak appears to have earned a promotion.

During a practice Wednesday in Cranberry, Novak took over as the second-line center with Anthony Mantha on his left wing and Justin Brazeau at right wing.

For most of this season, Novak has operated as a left winger on the third line, but over the past three contests, he has opened play as the third-line center.

During a 6-4 home loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, Novak had a goal and an assist.

Tommy Novak is the first Penguins player to score on Tristan Jarry.

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— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) December 17, 2025

In 32 games this season, Novak has 17 points (six goals, 11 assists), but the bulk of that has been accumulated in the past two-and-a-half weeks. In 10 games since Nov. 28, Novak has 10 points (four goals, six assists).

“He’s feeling good about his game right now, too,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “You see the way he attacks with the puck through the middle of the ice. You might see (that) a little bit more when he’s playing center than when he’s playing wing. But that’s been noticeable here when he has been in the middle. He’s really poised when he has the puck. He can draw coverage to him, and he can find guys around him.

“He’s feeling good about his game, and it’s shown.”

Malkin, Lizotte, Hallander skate

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has missed the past six games due to an undisclosed injury. (AP)

Injured Penguins forwards Evgeni Malkin, Blake Lizotte and Filip Hallander skated before Wednesday’s practice.

According to Muse, the trio has had some on-ice work in recent days.

Malkin and Lizotte are on injured reserve because of undisclosed maladies and have been labeled as “week-to-week.” As for Hallander, the rookie is also designated to injured reserve because of a blood clot in a leg and is not slated to be cleared for play until February at the earliest.

Koivunen scratched

In 21 games this season, Penguins rookie forward Ville Koivunen has three points (one goal, two assists). (Chaz Palla | TribLive)

Penguins rookie forward Ville Koivunen was a healthy scratch for Tuesday’s game.

After showing some promise and production in the late stages of the 2024-25 season, Koivunen has largely struggled during the current campaign. Opening the season on the top line, he was eventually demoted to the third line (with an assignment to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton mixed in.

Over 21 games this season, he has three points (one goal, two assists) while averaging 12 minutes, 44 seconds of ice time.

During Wednesday’s practice, Koivunen largely operated as a reserve, mixing in on the third line.

“It goes back to consistency,” Muse said before Tuesday’s game. “If you go back over the last stretch of games, there’s been some really good ones. I think it’s just continuing to attack the game at both ends. It’s the execution, holding on to pucks, moving the feet, but that’s been there, too.

“This isn’t a situation where it hasn’t been there. It has. It’s just kind of more consistency.”

Lined up

The team’s lines and pairings during Wednesday’s practice were:

67 Rickard Rakell – 87 Sidney Crosby – 17 Bryan Rust

39 Anthony Mantha – 18 Tommy Novak – 16 Justin Brazeau

2 Rutger McGroarty – 81 Ben Kindel – 13 Kevin Hayes/41 Ville Koivunen

19 Connor Dewar – 43 Danton Heinen – 55 Noel Acciari

28 Parker Wotherspoon – 65 Erik Karlsson

5 Ryan Shea – 58 Kris Letang

77 Brett Kulak – 3 Jack St. Ivany

27 Ryan Graves – 75 Connor Clifton

The top power-play unit included Crosby, Karlsson, Mantha, Rakell and Rust. The second power-play unit involved Brazeau, Hayes, Kindel, Letang and Novak.