Penguins Practice: Sullivan Shuffles Defense Pairs, Lines

The Pittsburgh Penguins rolled out some new forward lines and defensive pairings Tuesday at practice.

While the top two lines remained the same, which is no shock, the bottom lines were shuffled. The team had enough players to have five lines.

Jeff Carter, who has been out because of an injury, centered Danton Heinen and Brock McGinn; Ryan Poehling, who was ill Sunday and missed practice, centered just-recalled Filip Hallander and Josh Archibald; and Teddy Blueger, who is on LTIR but eligible to be activated, centered Sam Poulin and Kasperi Kapanen.

It should be noted that Blueger, Poulin and Kapanen were the only players in white jerseys, which could signify that they are limited in some way. Kapanen skating on that line would represent a demotion from the third line if he is not dealing with an injury or illness.

The top two lines, as usual, were Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Rickard Rakell.

On defense, Marcus Pettersson skated with Kris Letang. Brian Dumoulin, who has been a fixture on the top pairing with Letang for years but who has seemed to struggle last season and this, skated with Jan Rutta. P.O Joseph skated with Jeff Petry. Chad Ruhwedel rotated in on the new third pairing.

The Penguins have lost seven straight games (0-6-1) going into a game Wednesday at rival Washington. Whether these combinations, or some of them, remain in place for that game remains to be seen.

The players and coach Mike Sullivan could address the changes after practice.