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Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins controls the puck against Ryan Reaves of the New York Rangers during a February game.
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Do the Penguins have another option than the Letang-Matheson pair?

Emilee Chinn / Getty Images

Do the Penguins have another option than the Letang-Matheson pair?

This has definitely not been Brian Dumoulin’s finest season in black and gold. But the past two games have served as a reminder of just how valuable he is.

With the two-time Stanley Cup-winner sidelined with a lower-body injury, the Penguins were put in a difficult position with their defensive lineup in Games 2 and 3 of their first-round series against the New York Rangers, which they lead, 2-1.

Over the years, Dumoulin has proved to be a perfect match for perennial All-Star partner Kris Letang. He has a defense-first mentality and complementary skills, plus an uncanny knack for knowing where he needs to position himself to cover up for Letang when Letang jumps into the rush or pinches up the boards.

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Without his longtime partner, Letang has been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride.

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry.
Mike DeFabo/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
WATCH: Tristan Jarry skates individually, faces shots as rehab continues

Beyond simply losing a proven player capable of logging heavy minutes, the other issue is that the Penguins don’t have another natural fit next to Letang.

John Marino is also a stout defender, but plugging him into Dumoulin’s spot would put two righties on the top pair while potentially destabilizing the second. Marcus Pettersson would likely be exposed if he was given more high-leverage minutes. Ditto for Chad Ruhwedel. And don’t even ask about Mark Friedman.

That left coach Mike Sullivan with only one decent option: Mike Matheson.

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Matheson has had an outstanding second season in Pittsburgh and arguably has been the team’s second-best defenseman behind Letang. But like Letang, whom he trained with in offseasons past, he can be uber-aggressive offensively.

Prior to Game 3, Sullivan said several factors played into pairing those two up.

“Marcus and John Marino have been a solid pair for us,” he said. “Mike has shown an ability to play with Tanger in the past. When we split up Dumo and Tanger, there was a stretch of games where they played pretty well together. Mike is capable of heavy minutes because of his fitness level and his skating ability.”

During the regular season, the Penguins experienced a spike in scoring chances at both ends of the rink whenever Letang and Matheson played together. Add them all up, and the Penguins were often on the plus side of that equation.

The Rangers have exploited them in this series, though. Those two were on the ice together for three goals against in the Game 2 loss. In a wild Game 3 win, they were out there for the second-period tallies by Frank Vatrano and Artemi Panarin that gave the Rangers life, along with a pair of goals for the Penguins.

We will see if Sullivan keeps Letang and Matheson together if Dumoulin is unable to play in Monday’s Game 4. Dumoulin has not been on the ice since Thursday morning.

Getting him back soon would increase their chances of securing this series.

“He does everything for us, you know? Penalty kill and shuts down top lines. So you never want to lose a guy like that,” Jake Guentzel said Friday. “Everyone’s got to pick up the slack for a guy like that. He plays a lot of minutes. We’ve got a lot of capable defensemen and we’ll get the job done. Hopefully he’s back soon.”

Jarry gets a break

After first tiptoeing back onto the ice before Saturday’s morning skate, focusing on movement in his crease, Tristan Jarry was given a day off, Sullivan said.

The next step for the All-Star goalie, who broke his foot on April 14, is to take part in a team practice. The Penguins might want him to get into more than one of those before they are comfortable playing him in a pivotal postseason game.

That may be challenging given that the playoff schedule and the intensity of these games result in the team conducting few full-length, full-squad practices.

“This time of year, it’s difficult to get any player into game-real scenarios,” Sullivan conceded. “We’re playing every other night. It’s the hardest hockey that you could possibly play. Playoff hockey is physical. It’s taxing in every way – emotionally and physically. The recovery process is such an important aspect.”

Rakell takes the ice

The only player to skate Sunday, a scheduled off day for the Penguins, was Rickard Rakell. He got in a workout with skills development coach Ty Hennes.

Rakell missed the last two games after he was knocked out of Game 1 by a high hit from New York’s Ryan Lindgren. After he was idle for two days, Rakell got back on the ice Friday. He has now skated on an individual basis three days in a row.

Rakell was skating on Evgeni Malkin’s right wing at the time of the injury. But given that Sullivan on Sunday praised Danton Heinen and Kasperi Kapanen for their play in the series, the coach faces an interesting lineup question if Rakell is cleared for Game 4. Might Rakell instead be inserted on Jeff Carter’s line?

Praise for Zucker

In his return to the lineup Saturday, Jason Zucker was held without a point. But he made his mark with seven hits. He landed a loud one on his first shift of the night. Seconds later, Brock McGinn banked one in for the game’s first goal.

“He was a big part of the game,” Sullivan said. “He brought us a lot of energy. He obviously played the game with an edge. He brings a certain level of physicality to our team. And he helps us get momentum. I thought Zucker had a real strong game for us. He’s an important part of our team for a lot of reasons.”

Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.

 

First Published: May 8, 2022, 5:12 p.m.
Updated: May 9, 2022, 10:46 a.m.

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