PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There is no trick, no deeper message to a series of line and pairing changes for the Pens on Monday other than they need to win and they aren't scoring enough goals to do so.
"We are trying to find line combinations that give us a chance to win," Sullivan said, probably underlining the obvious. "What we've had here for a while hasn't produced with any level of consistency, not nearly the consistency that will give us the chance to win consistently. We are going to affect some change here and see if we can't put some combinations together that can help us there."
Injuries obviously play a factor in decisions, but here were the line combinations on Monday
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Drew O'Connor-Evgeni Malkin-Matthew Philips
Reilly Smith-Lars Eller-Valtteri Puustinen
Jansen Harkins-Jeff Carter-Colin White
PO Joseph-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson
"We're all trying to win… no one in this room cares if they're in the top six, top four, first power play, second power play, whatever it is," Graves said. "I mean, guys care about that, for sure, but we care about winning more than we care about that."
"We're just trying to find sparks for guys and hopefully have success. We haven't scored a ton of goals lately, things like that. I mean, you can't just stay with the same thing every time. We're just trying to have success here."
"I think it's maybe an opportunity for guys to have bigger roles, different roles, play with different linemen," Letang said. "But, we want to spark something. We want to get out of the funk that we're in, that winning one, losing one. We want to string some together, so we're trying to mix it up and spark something. I think that's the message."
"I think obviously, we haven't found the consistency that we want," Karlsson said. "Everybody in here will be the first to admit that. And we're trying, the coaches are trying, and I think everybody around here is trying. So, it's not for a lack of effort in trying to find ways to move forward and become the team that we're capable of. When things are not going the way that you want, you shuffle things around, and I think that's where we're at right now."
One time since January 8 Pens have scored more than three goals. One time. On a roster with several Hall of Famers.
Eller said they continue to have a no-quit attitude. He says they must believe and have faith in each other. Karlsson said they were excited to come to practice on Monday and are ready to turn this around. It's about finding a spark that would lead to consistency. Not what we've seen for most of the season.
"We are trying to find the right combinations," Sullivan said. "I think we've been very patient with a lot of them up until this point. We are not getting the traction that lives up to our expectations. So, change is inevitable, so that's why we made the decisions we made today."
Still in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division, the Pens host the Islanders Tuesday night at 7p.
