Penguins Practice: McGroarty, Koivunen Settling In

Rookie forwards Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen earned positive reviews for their work during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 1-0 overtime victory against Ottawa Sunday.

And they apparently made a good enough impression on coach Mike Sullivan and his staff that they remained in the prominent roles they filled against the Senators when the team practiced Monday at PPG Paints Arena.

McGroarty stayed on left wing with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust, while Koivunen held onto his place on the No. 2 line, alongside Rickard Rakell and Connor Dewar.

The other forward combinations and defense pairings during the practice were:

Philip Tomasino-Kevin Hayes-Noel Acciari
Danton Heinen-Blake Lizotte-Emil Bemstrom

Matt Grzelcyk-Kris Letang
Conor Timmins-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves-Ryan Shea/Vladislav Kolyachonok

Smile, and say ‘Geez’

The 2024-25 season isn’t one on which most of the Penguins figure to look back fondly, given that they’re about to miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third year in a row.

Nonetheless, taking a team photo that will become an enduring part of the franchise’s historical record is standard procedure at this time of year, and the Penguins took care of that before practice Monday.

Malkin, Joseph skate

Center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman P.O Joseph, both of whom are recovering from unspecified upper-body injuries, had the latest in a series of on-ice workouts before the team photo and full-squad practice.

Forward Tommy Novak, who also is injured, did not skate, but his recovery also has involved off-ice sessions.

Malkin has missed the Penguins’ past three games while Joseph has been out since March 1, sitting out 13 games.