{"id":472414,"date":"2026-02-26T05:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T05:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/472414\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T05:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T05:16:19","slug":"life-without-crosby-the-gamble-of-playing-girard-with-letang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/472414\/","title":{"rendered":"Life without Crosby; The Gamble of Playing Girard with Letang"},"content":{"rendered":"

CRANBERRY, Twp., Pa. \u2014 The Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> are back to square one. Their lines, their choices, and even their season are again a great unknown after the Wednesday bombshell that captain Sidney Crosby<\/a> will miss at least the next four weeks. <\/p>\n

The Penguins\u2019 lines Tuesday and Wednesday were largely undisturbed as coach Dan Muse opted for minimal disruption and played the cards he was dealt, though those cards appear to be an offsuit 2-7 (the dead man\u2019s hand). <\/p>\n

Rickard Rakell<\/a> indeed appears to be slotted as Muse\u2019s first choice to be the No. 1 center. He\u2019ll pivot Bryan Rust and rookie Avery Hayes, who has exactly one NHL game experience. <\/p>\n

The remainder of the lines will be the same as they were before the NHL pushed pause for three weeks on the 2025-26 season in favor of watching Czech defenseman Radko Gudas thump Crosby in the International Olympic competition, and Team USA leaving a beer-soaked celebration trail from Milan to Washington, D.C. before scattering back to their NHL homes. <\/p>\n

Ben Kindel will center Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha, while Tommy Novak will be in the middle of Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov.<\/p>\n

For now, the Penguins\u2019 top two centers will be Rakell and Novak, whom Muse quickly praised on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cTommy\u2019s played great for us. You\u2019ve seen it throughout the year. He\u2019s played a lot in the middle, but he\u2019s also done it on the wing. With (Rakell), you go back to the beginning of training camp, he spent some time there, working and playing center,\u201d said Muse. \u201cAnd you get into a time like right now, I\u2019m glad we did that. And I also think he\u2019s played center before\u2013This isn\u2019t us throwing him into a situation he\u2019s never been in \u2026 He\u2019s in that position, even just the way he plays the game. He ends up low quite a bit. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, yeah, I think it\u2019s opportunities. And so my expectation is that guys will take full advantage of those opportunities in front of them, and we go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the last 32 games, Novak has produced a healthy 22 points, including nine goals. He\u2019s taken the second-line center spot with Evgeni Malkin\u2019s<\/a> move to the wing and the inclusion of Egor Chinakhov<\/a> in the lineup on Dec. 29. <\/p>\n

However, Muse again sidestepped questions of Malkin moving back to the center. Despite what would seem a natural slide\u2013one of the best centers of the 21st century who has enjoyed a resurgent season, Muse didn\u2019t bite. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019ll be a lot of options that we can consider. I think what you saw today is the starting point,\u201d Muse said. \u201cSo, we\u2019ll continue to reevaluate and go.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been persistent talk, including implications from general manager Kyle Dubas<\/a> on his bi-weekly team radio show in early February, that Malkin\u2019s shoulder is not healthy enough to take faceoffs. Muse\u2019s decision to use Rakell over Malkin seems to confirm those inferences, at least for the time being. <\/p>\n

Rather than shoehorn another injured player into a spot in the lineup, Hayes, 23, will get a good look in a prime position. The Penguins\u2019 undrafted free agent who scraped his way into the Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins <\/a>lineup before making his NHL debut against the Buffalo Sabres in the final game before the Olympic break on Feb. 5. <\/p>\n

Hayes scored a pair of goals and was a primary catalyst in the Penguins\u2019 5-2 win.<\/p>\n

Sam Girard and Kris Letang<\/p>\n

The book on newly acquired defenseman Sam Girard is that he\u2019s a small, puck-moving defenseman. At 27 years old, he\u2019s already played 588 NHL games. This season, Girard has played 40 games, registering 12 points (3-9-12). <\/p>\n

His role steadily diminished over the last few seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, and he became a target for fans as he underperformed in the playoffs against more physical teams. <\/p>\n

On paper, he would not seem to be an ideal partner for Penguins D-man Kris Letang, himself a smaller puck-moving, offensive defenseman who is best suited to pair with defensive defensemen. <\/p>\n

In emailed comments to several outlets Tuesday, Dubas insinuated Girard would get a greater opportunity with the Penguins. And now it seems Muse is making it happen, though it is a gamble. <\/p>\n

\u201c(Girard) is a really good puck mover. Just going back (to the defensive zone), he\u2019s a deceptive skater, too. He can really break pressure there with his skating,\u201d Muse said. \u201cAt the blue line, the same thing. He\u2019s a guy who has a different type of offense there. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the movement, I think he probably doesn\u2019t get enough credit for how well he defends. He does a really good job. I think when you\u2019re a player that size\u2013he\u2019s not the biggest guy in the world\u2013he defends really well just with his brain, and he anticipates with really good stick detail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Girard met the Pittsburgh media for the first time on Wednesday. After falling on the Colorado depth chart, the soft-spoken blue liner is excited for a new opportunity. After nearly a decade in Colorado, Girard will bolster the Penguins\u2019 breakouts and join the penalty kill. <\/p>\n

\u201c(I\u2019m) very good at getting the puck out of the zone. I think that\u2019s my first quality, and obviously, using my feet; I have some good speed,\u201d said Girard. \u201cSo I think I can bring some offense to the team, as well. But you know, it\u2019s gonna take a little bit to get adjust the system of the team, and yeah, I\u2019m just going to have to make sure I\u2019m ready for (Thursday) night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Penguins lines<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> sam girard<\/a> Sidney Crosby<\/a> <\/p>\n

Categorized:Penguins Practice<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CRANBERRY, Twp., Pa. \u2014 The Pittsburgh Penguins are back to square one. Their lines, their choices, and even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5113],"tags":[5,4,118,16008,1469,100,5216,4311,768],"class_list":{"0":"post-472414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-penguins","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-penguins","11":"tag-penguins-lines","12":"tag-pittsburgh","13":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","14":"tag-pittsburghpenguins","15":"tag-sam-girard","16":"tag-sidney-crosby"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116135236965451363","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}