When I shared my thoughts on the Pittsburgh Penguins and day one of training camp, I mentioned that it’s important not to read too much into line combination. On Saturday, though, Mike Johnston may have made it worthwhile.
The first thing that stands out to me about these pairings? Well, I already called them nearly two months ago when I looked at how the defensive pairings should shake out based on a bit of analytics and playing styles. The only difference is that I didn’t imagine a world in which we’d be watching five total pairings, with Rob Scuderi coming in as the ninth defenseman.