PITTSBURGH (93.7 the Fan) Remember when Penguins President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke famously said he wasn't a big fan of going into a gun fight with a knife? That's basically what the Pens will be doing Friday night when they face the first-place Capitals in Washington.
Of course, this isn't exactly what Burke meant – he was talking about needing bigger players – but it's in the same vein with the Penguins now missing leading scorer Jake Guentzel along with Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin.
Not only that but Jason Zucker was excused from practice again Thursday – another "maintenance day" according to coach Mike Sullivan - but sometimes these maintenance days turn into sometime a little more long term. Sullivan did say Zucker is on the trip to DC so he could still play Friday. Drew O'Conner was the choice to fill Zucker's spot on Jeff Carter's line along with Danton Heinen.
Without Guentzel, Dominik Simon worked on the top power play unit with Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Evan Rodrigues and Carter. Why Simon? "We're looking for certain options, left shots, right shots, guys who have strengths in certain areas that we think complement the group," Sullivan answered then adding. "As we always say, nothing is ever etched in stone."
Meaning Kasperi Kapanen could find himself there at some point. Kapanen had been dispatched to the fourth line before Guentzel was hurt and now he with get a first line shot with Crosby and ERod.
After further review, I may have gone a bit overboard with the "bringing a knife to a gun fight" reference since the Capitals have had their own issues involving key players. Nik Backstrom has been out all season with a hip injury, TJ Oshie has only played 10 games, Anthony Mantha is on IR and three more regulars – Nic Dowd, Garnet Hathaway and Trevor Van Riemsdyk – are in health protocol.
Yet, the Caps still lead the Metro Division with 38 points. "I think their team game is really strong right now," Sullivan noted. "They're playing with a lot of confidence, they're a well-coached group and they're getting a lot of commitment in playing a team game."
That sounds a bit like Sullivan's team but, of course, the Caps also have this guy, Ovechkin, who has scored 20 goals and also hasn't missed a game. So he will be ready Friday night. Sullivan says his guys will be, too.
"I have so much admiration for the core players on both sides," Sullivan said. "There are no secrets between these two teams. We anticipate another emotional hard-fought battle; that's usually the case when we play Washington, anyway, but they've had a great start to their season. We're going to have to be at our best."
Malkin Update - still "week-to-week," according to Sullivan. He again wore a non-contact jersey and left midway through the practice but Sullivan said that was because he had already done significant individual work before his teammates took the ice.
