April 14, 2015
On the scene: Status quo for Penguins? Yep
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Beau Bennett and the Penguins close practice with rink-length wind sprints. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Sights, sounds and the scene from Consol Energy Center this afternoon …
• The Penguins’ first practice in advance of the Stanley Cup playoffs saw Christian Ehrhoff cleared for contact and fully participating in all drills, but another defenseman, Derrick Pouliot, not on the ice at all. In fact, I saw Pouliot in civvies, so I can’t be sure he even had an off-ice workout.
Ehrhoff was paired with Taylor Chorney, who’s drawn extensive praise from Mike Johnston and is virtually certain to start Game 1 against the Rangers on Thursday.
“Chorney definitely has the nod,” Johnston said. “He’s really feeling his game.”
Otherwise, all lines, all pairings, everything stayed the same.
Doesn’t sound like much will change from the past few weeks, right?
Oh, just wait.
The Penguins’ three recalls from Wilkes-Barre all practiced, but none of them lined up as if they’ll play: Scott Harrington and Brian Dumoulin worked as a tandem, behind the other three. And Scott Wilson, the only forward brought up, was the extra winger rotating in and out of third-line rushes. Being that Brandon Sutter’s wingers are Beau Bennett and Steve Downie, that puts Wilson on the outside looking in.
Which one would have to mean the Penguins were perfectly fine with the personnel who were both tired and ineffective during that 3-9-2 plunge before the Buffalo salvage operation.
Other than to hint that Dumoulin would have an edge on Harrington, in large part because of his time together with Chorney in Wilkes-Barre, Johnston declined to divulge his potential lineup for New York: “We’re not going to give away our plans for the Rangers.”
• Two minutes with Blake Comeau …
• David Perron practiced with the first-team power play, which had four forwards, along with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist. The lone defenseman was Paul Martin. This isn’t set in stone, though. The coaching staff is debating whether to go this way or, pending the health of Ehrhoff and/or Pouliot, staying with two defensemen.
“We have a couple different looks,” Johnston said. “We know how dangerous they are short-handed, but, to me, it’s about how you react to the loose puck. Tomorrow, we’ll try it with two defensemen, just to be prepared.”
• The clear emphasis of drills was on the Rangers’ tendencies, especially low in the attacking zone. As Johnston put it, “They’re strong east-to-west” in that area. The Penguins simulated such situations and stressed sound positioning — including stick position — to intercept lateral passes.
“They bring it on the attack, and they can do it with all four lines,” Nick Spaling said.
• The clear emphasis from the non-hockey standpoint was plain, old having fun. Players were laughing, joking and visibly trying to relax after two tense weeks, at least right up until Johnston ended the session with rink-length wind sprints that had tongues dragging. The latter was done to get legs loose after two days away for most players.
A handful of players spent their free Monday at PNC Park for the Pirates’ opener, and that moved Ian Cole, a lifelong Tigers fan, to observe, “My brother pitched awesome out there.”
Gerrit Cole is not his brother.
