CRANBERRY — The Pittsburgh Penguins got a jolt Sunday morning.
The day began with bad injury news on Rickard Rakell who will miss at least six weeks after left-wrist surgery but there was also a little bit of good news as the team recalled skilled winger Ville Koivunen from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The Rakell fallout meant that not only was Koivunen in the line rushes, but fellow rookie Filip Hallander got a big promotion to the Penguins top line with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust.
After narrowly making the team out of training camp, it’s a big showcase for Hallander, who had 27 goals with his Swedish team last season.
He has one goal and one assist in eight games, but now it’s time to push for more. Perhaps playing with the high-end players will unlock that part of his offensive game.
“He’s he’s been playing well in terms of getting on pucks, sending plays, and both (his) play with the puck and away from the puck,” said coach Dan Muse. “We gave it a couple of shifts (Saturday night) because there was a need and we decided today, to practice more to see some more.”
The Penguins 25-year-old rookie has been cast in a defensive role this season, playing on the third and fourth lines, though he has recently established a regular presence on the third line.
In prior conversations with PHN, Hallander has expressed his understanding of the different roles in the lineup. He referenced the increased defensive awareness of a down-line role Sunday and how that limits offensive chances. Perhaps this is his chance to let loose.
“I hope so. I mean … I hope so,” Hallander quipped. “On the third line, it’s the inbetween chipping in some offense. You don’t want to screw up, but at the same time you want to produce offense. So, it’s that fine line of playing safe, but at the same time, you want to make something happen. (The top line) is great opportunity to go out there, see what happens and have fun.”
For Koivunen, it’s a reset. The Penguins and fans expected big things from the 22-year-old Finnish winger, but when the regular season began, his game went south. After just two games, and with the impending activation of Rust from the injured list, Koivuen was the odd-man out.
The winger won’t be reclaiming his spot on the top line, at least not yet. He has more work to do and the coaches told him he needed to improve before sending him down after the second game.
“The coaches said it wasn’t good enough. I agree,” the never verbose Koivunen said.
Muse had no choice but to adjust at least two of his lines without Rakell, as well as the top power play.
It appears Ben Kindel will take Rakell’s spot on the top power for Monday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
Penguins Lines
Filip Hallander-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha-Evgeni Malkin-Justin Brazeau
Tommy Novak-Ben Kindel-Philip Tomasino/Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Defense
Parker Wotherpoon-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Kris Letang
Connor Clifton-Matt Dumba-Harrison Brunicke
Power Play 1
Karlsson-Malkin-Crosby-Rust-Kindel
Letang-Novak-Mantha-Koivunen-Brazeau
Tags: filip hallander Penguins lines Pittsburgh Penguins Ville Koivunen
Categorized: Penguins Practice