The Penguins destroyed the lowly Flyers 7-0 on Wednesday night to begin their season, and Philadelphia followed that up by losing again Thursday. But the more interesting story coming out of opening night might be the problem Pittsburgh’s makeshift third line created for Dan Muse.
Filip Hallander, Hendrix Lapierre, and Ville Koivunen all scored against Philadelphia. That wasn’t even supposed to be the Penguins’ third line. Pittsburgh opened camp with Andrei Kuzmenko, Ben Kindel, and Bryan Rust together, but injuries and Kuzmenko’s family situation forced Muse to put Hallander, Lapierre, and Koivunen together. They responded by torching the Flyers.
Now the reinforcements are starting to return. Kuzmenko practiced Friday and is expected to make his Penguins debut Saturday against Montreal. Kindel has returned to full-contact practice, although Muse has not confirmed that he will be available for the home opener. Blake Lizotte is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and will not play Saturday.
For now, Muse may have caught a break. Hallander, Lapierre, and Koivunen stayed together during Friday’s practice, while Kuzmenko and Kindel worked with Connor Dewar. So the line that dominated Philadelphia may get another chance together Saturday night.
But this problem isn’t going away. Rust and Lizotte are still out, Kindel is getting closer, and Kuzmenko is back. Eventually, somebody who deserves an NHL jersey isn’t going to get one.
Kyle Dubas has given his coaching staff a lot of legitimate NHL forwards to choose from. That is a good problem to have, but I still don’t envy Dan Muse when everybody gets healthy.
