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E-mailBylsma: New line combos no big deal
Dan Bylsma
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review file
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COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Aside from the Penguins' top forward group, head coach Dan Bylsma had not been shy about deploying various line combinations this season. He said that willingness to mix and match would help Friday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Penguins' first game without center Evgeni Malkin (out at least two weeks with a right shoulder strain).
"I'm not a guy who gets real fixed in to lines, for (the) given reasons that sometimes a guy (isn't) playing well and you want to get him off there, and sometimes you have injuries," he said.
The Penguins, who also played without right wing Tyler Kennedy (undisclosed injury) and defenseman Sergei Gonchar (left wrist), opened last night with the following line combinations:
First: Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Bill Guerin; second: Ruslan Fedotenko-Jordan Staal-Chris Bourque; third: Matt Cooke-Craig Adams-Pascal Dupuis; fourth: Chris Conner-Michael Rupp-Eric Godard.
• Neither Conner nor center Mark Letestu participated in the Penguins' morning practice. Letestu, recalled from the AHL in the afternoon, only arrived in Columbus late in the morning. He did not play against the Blue Jackets. Conner accompanied the Penguins to Columbus after his recall Thursday afternoon, but his equipment did not make it until yesterday afternoon. "When I got off the plane (Thursday) from my layover in Minnesota, I was like, 'With my luck, my gear won't show up' - and it didn't, so there you go," he said. "I should have seen that coming."
• The Blue Jackets allowed the Penguins to wear their baby blue alternate uniforms, which hadn't been donned away from Mellon Arena since the 2008 Winter Classic in Buffalo on New Year's Day. The Penguins plan to wear their alternates for several games that aren't part of extend trips.
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