PITTSBURGH — Coach Mike Sullivan’s willingness to switch up his lines in light of an unwelcome absence was rewarded against the Penguins’ hapless intrastate rivals to the east.
With Nick Bonino sidelined on a week-to-week basis with a lacerated kidney, Sullivan shuffled up both his bottom and top sixes en route to a 5-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday evening at PPG Paints Arena. The strategy worked like a charm; the third line capitalized on the Penguins’ second shot of the game, but it was no ordinary bottom-six player who got Pittsburgh on the board.
Rickard Rakell, who was dropped down from right wing on Sidney Crosby’s line to the same position on the third group, struck gold. Recent acquisition Mikael Granlund showcased some nifty passing, locating Marcus Pettersson on the opposite side of the ice during a solid shift by the third line in which the Penguins possessed the puck in the Flyers’ zone for what felt like as long as the drive to Philadelphia on the Pennsylvania turnpike.
