The Penguins returned to the practice ice at Cranberry yesterday with coach Mike Sullivan working on finding answers after his first-teamers were badly beaten by Detroit’s mostly-minor league lineup on Tuesday. Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry was fined $5,000 by the NHL for his punch to the back of the head of the Red Wings’ Jonatan Berggren on Tuesday night.
Petry is one of a group of nine defensemen on one-way NHL contracts. The large contingent does not concern Sullivan, who says Stanley Cup winning teams always have blue line depth.
Sullivan is also searching for the right combination of forwards on his top two lines. That includes settling on a right wing to play with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel on the top line. The coach says he has a certain type of player in mind.
Sullivan says Bryan Rust is a natural for the top line and he’s had a lot of success there, but he is also a great fit for the second line with Geno Malkin.
The Penguins will be back in action tomorrow with a preseason game in Buffalo.
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