It’s pretty clear what the Pittsburgh Penguins’ top line is these days.
Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust.
A more cynical perspective might label that as the Penguins’ only line.
In all reality, there are no other options considering injuries have waylaid the likes of forwards Teddy Blueger, Evgeni Malkin, Brandon Tanev and Jason Zucker.
Despite those absences, the Penguins have remained resolute in keeping Guentzel, Crosby and Rust together instead of opting to move any of them to a different portion of the lineup in the pursuit of finding greater offensive contributions from the team’s bottom three lines.
“We like how Sid’s line has played to this point,” coach Mike Sullivan said via video conference. “There’s obviously some chemistry there.
“But we’ve got some ideas in mind on how we can tweak the lines to try to create more balance. We’ll see how it goes but nothing, at this point, is off the table.”
Of course, when you play a beleaguered outfit such as the Buffalo Sabres, stricken by a poverty of NHL-caliber talent, you don’t need a surplus of options. Or even a table.
That was evident Wednesday during the Penguins’ 5-2 victory at PPG Paints Arena.
Finding offense from the likes of a few reserve forwards and even the defense, the Penguins were able to get what was only their second win in their past five games.
“Obviously, we have a lot of guys out, a lot of guys injured,” defenseman John Marino said. “A lot of guys stepped up tonight. We needed that. Obviously, the last couple of games we didn’t have that. So clearly, that goes a long way.”
The triumph exacted a toll, however, as another forward, Kasperi Kapanen, left the game during the second period with an apparent injury. There was no immediate word on his status.
The Penguins took a 1-0 lead 7 minutes, 36 seconds into regulation. Off the left wing, Penguins forward Sam Lafferty generated a three-on-one rush with defenseman Cody Ceci and forward Evan Rodrigues against Sabres defenseman Colin Miller. From the left circle, Lafferty saucered a pass to the right of the crease, where Rodrigues tapped in a forehand shot past the left skate of former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender Dustin Tokarski for his third goal of the season.
It became a 2-0 game at 15:44 of the first period. After a pass by Crosby from the end boards was broken up, the rebound slid to the right of the crease. Defenseman Kris Letang snuck in from the right circle undetected and roofed a wrister for his sixth goal.
The Sabres got on the scoreboard at 17:17 of the first when defenseman Rasmus Dahlin stroked a one-timer from center point through traffic and past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s glove for his second goal.
Marino’s second goal at 17:29 of the second period made it a 3-1 contest. Taking a pass high in the right circle, Marino chopped a one-timer past Tokarski’s blocker on the far side.
A short-handed score late in the second at the 19:36 mark increased the Penguins’ lead, 4-1. Stealing a pass in the defensive zone, reserve Penguins forward Frederick Gaudreau deked around Dahlin at the blue line to create a breakaway. Chugging into the Sabres’ zone, Gaudreau veered to the right of the cage, drew Tokarski a bit out of his crease and fed a pass to the slot for trailing forward Zach Aston-Reese, who chipped the puck into a vacant cage for his seventh goal.
Gaudreau had the lone assist, his first NHL point since Feb. 5, 2019.
“Freddy made a really nice play at the blue line,” Aston-Reese said. “I think he toe-dragged Dahlin. Just a great effort. Honestly, I had no idea he was going to give me the puck. I was in awe of the play he made. It was a really nice play.”
Crosby got his 13th goal of the season 3:57 into the third period during a four-on-four sequence. Coasting in on a breakaway from the left circle, Crosby floated a wrister past Tokarski’s blocker on the near side.
Sabres forward Victor Olofsson scored his ninth goal on a penalty shot at 14:35 of the third.
Jarry made 26 saves on 28 shots as his record improved 13-8-2 thanks, in part, to greater production from areas beyond that top line.
“It’s critical,” Sullivan said. “It’s hard to win in the absence of contributions throughout your lineup. When we get it tonight, you can see the difference in the outcome. Our team played a pretty solid game for the most part. To see guys get rewarded for some of their efforts that don’t normally score goals was great on our part.
“To see those guys contribute on the scoresheet is great for them. It’s great for the team. Hopefully, this is something that we can build off moving forward.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Seth by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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