Penguins change up all defensive pairings
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Erik Karlsson has skated in pairings with big defensemen before.
When he entered the NHL with the Ottawa Senators in 2009, he occasionally worked with the likes of Filip Kuba (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) or Andy Sutton (6-foot-6, 245 pounds).
Later, he was regularly deployed on the Senators’ top pairing with Marc Methot (6-foot-4, 230 pounds).
So a potential union with current Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Ryan Graves (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) is nothing out of the ordinary for him.
“He’s in the top five,” Karlsson quipped when asked about Graves’ dimensions. “I’ve played with some big boys before. Today’s game, there’s not so many left. It will be nice to get him going, and, hopefully, we can figure something out and find chemistry and get some consistency, at least from the back end.”
That pursuit of chemistry and consistency took a turn Sunday during a practice session in Cranberry as the Penguins mixed and matched all three of their defensive pairings (and a fourth if you include reserves). Those alterations came less than 24 hours after the Penguins gave up a touchdown and an extra point in a 7-0 road loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
In addition to Karlsson and Graves being paired, Kris Letang skated with Marcus Pettersson while Chad Ruhwedel – sidelined for the past 12 games primarily because of an undisclosed injury – skated on a third pairing with rookie John Ludvig. Meanwhile, P.O Joseph and Ryan Shea worked on a fourth duo.
“Nothing is off the table,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “Some of it is we’re not satisfied with where we’re at there with what we’ve currently had. And we’re looking for options to try to create some change. We’ll see where the pairs go. Those aren’t etched in stone by any stretch. We’ll make decisions throughout the course of the game depending on how people are playing. Performance matters. At the end of the day, we’re trying to find solutions that give us the best chance to win. We simply haven’t been satisfied with where we’re at.”
According to Natural Stat Trick, Karlsson and Pettersson have logged the most common five-on-five ice time together among the team’s defensemen at 412:41. The Graves-Letang duo is second at 372:08.
Change appears to be coming as soon as Monday’s home game against the Minnesota Wild. But it isn’t a cumbersome development for those involved.
“I said this at the start of the year: There’s a good chance you’re going to play with everybody,” Graves said. “In every season, there’s ebbs and flows and there’s good games, bad games. Obviously, we know what kind of game (Saturday’s) game was. It’s fair. We’re giving up chances, we’re giving up rush chances.
”It’s a new look. It doesn’t matter to guys who they play with. Up and down the lineup, guys don’t care. Everyone wants to win. We’ve had a few games that are not up to standard. That’s fair. Guys are happy to play with anybody. We’re just here to win.”
Pettersson has had the benefit of skating with Letang in the past, most notably last season when they logged 408:38 of common five-on-five ice time. In his role, he doesn’t see much of an adjustment switching between Karlsson and Letang.
“They’re both great players,” Pettersson said. “We try to play to our system. Maybe you get out there with different forward lines and stuff like that. But I try to play the same way and not change too much so I’m predictable (for teammates) out there.”
Karlsson is open to any alternations if they lead to success.
“We’re trying to still find a consistency,” Karlsson said. “We’re enough games in now, (and) we haven’t been that. We’re just trying to figure things out and move forward and get some traction.”
Notes: Injured Penguins forwards Noel Acciari and Rickard Rakell each participated in Sunday’s practice session in full capacities. Acciari has missed the past seven games due to an undisclosed injury and is designated to injured reserve. Meanwhile, Rakell has been absent for the past 12 games because of an undisclosed ailment and is designated to long-term injured reserve. … Forward Jesse Puljujarvi, who linked up with the Penguins on a tryout a week prior, continues to work out with the team’s strength-and-conditioning staff off the ice as he tries to rebound from offseason surgery to each of his hips.