With only one preseason game remaining, the Penguins — without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin — are still hoping to iron out some things before the regular season begins Tuesday against the Lightning.
"I think just starting to do all the little things right," forward Evan Rodrigues said following Wednesday's practice. "A little bit more structure, more pace. There's intricacies in our (defensive) zone and (offensive) zone that we kind of want to nail down. I think we'll be looking to do that in these last two games."
The Penguins, who will be without their captain, Crosby, for likely another week or so, and without Malkin until at least mid-December, have gone 3-1 in the preseason.
Defenseman Brian Dumoulin is looking for the team to play a "full, consistent game," following a sloppy game Tuesday in a 5-4 shootout win over Buffalo.
"Consistency is huge, cohesion too. And building trust with our forwards," he said. "I think obviously getting more reps, we need to continue to play will with a full 60 (minute) effort.
"Another thing, too, that's the biggest thing we can practice in these games, is special teams. Power play and penalty kill will be solid there.
The Penguins will have some massive obstacles to overcome early in the season. Perhaps that explains why Sullivan is still very much in preseason mode, trying to figure out who, exactly, is going to contribute for this team, which also dealing with COVID-19 related absences of Jake Guentzel and Zach Aston-Reese.
"From our standpoint, I don't think the priorities change," Sullvan said. "We're still trying to evaluate players and evaluate what we have. But we're also trying to get better in all of the details of our game. We're using this exhibition games as an opportunity to accomplish both.
"Obviously, as we get close to the regular season, the priority starts to wait more on preparing the team on a deal standpoint for Game 1."
Sullivan alluded to the lineup in the last two games looking similar or identical to what the Penguins will put on the ice on Tuesday in Tampa. However, the Penguins Wednesday evening recalled four players from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in forwards Jonathan Gruden and Valtteri Puustinen, as well as defensemen Niclas Almari and Taylor Fedun.
They are not likely to factor into the opening night lines and defense pairings.
But, regardless of who is on the ice, the Penguins' regulars still have a lot of work to do. And that starts Thursday, in Detroit, and then Sunday against Columbus at PPG Paints Arena.
"Especially the last game, you usually have a full roster and close to what you're going to start with," Rodrigues said. "I think it's important in that last game to dial in the chemistry with your linemates and make sure everything is where it needs to be heading into the season."
