Lineys Rolling into Playoffs with Injuries

Team: 2018-19 Pittsburgh Penguins

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 21, 2019

Published: Mar. 21, 2019

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Lines I would like to see rolled out while Geno/Maatta/ZAR rehab.

Adam Johnson on the 1st line because he is not a bottom6 player. He is lightning fast and has pretty good hands, just wasn't able to finish scoring opportunities in the few games that I got to see him play. His speed can cause opposing D to pinch and open up a little more ice for Sid & Jake to work with. Might not last long and it's a tall order for a guy playing in his first NHL game, but it would almost certainly be a better payoff than having him play grinding lines for 8 minutes a game. Use him.

McCann has only played at Center in a few occasions so far this season, but I feel him and Rusty can cause absolute havoc on the ice. Phil needs to be able to contribute to the play 5on5, but seriously this top6 would be the fastest we have seen in years easily.

Blueger doesn't deserve a demotion, but this goes back to Adam Johnson not fitting in the bottom6. Blueger could be a nice compliment to a line that has 6'5 Bjugstad and with Horny's pesky-ness. This would be the line that I would see having the biggest problem, but Blueger, McCann and Johnson can certainly be interchangeable here.

4th line is 4th line. Probably won't do anything. I am a Simon fanboy and think he is one of the better possession players on the team but he just isn't producing. Cullen hasn't really done anything, nor has Wilson. Just grind hockey until we get healthy.

D pairing are the same, even though I really don't love Johnson-Schultz together. JJ has definitely improved his play since going back to his natural side, but he still is an anchor to Schultz who is true top4 dman. Guddy & Pettersson have been great, and they would continue to get favorable matchups with these lineups.

POWERPLAY TIME! Oh boy, do the Penguins miss Geno on the PP. Sure he makes blind passes and costly turnovers, but the good far outweighs the bad here. Pens PP stinks with him injured. Gotta mix it up a bit. Pens should roll Jake & Sid whenever they can, so keep them and give them Kessel on the left side. I am also okay with Rust getting PP1 looks, so if this continues to not work through him or McCann up there.

I think this team has done some good things in the past few weeks, all while missing Kris Letang. If they can hurdle these late game mental lapses and get Kessel going while they get healthy (hopefully), then I think they have as good of a chance as any Metro team. Let's Go Pens!