Penguins’ 4th-liners earning trust defensively

Through their first 49 games, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ most prominent line is their top line.

No duh. Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust (from left wing to right wing) have largely keyed most of the Penguins’ limited success this season by scoring a combined 41 even-strength goals (though not all together on the ice at the same time).

Per Natural Stat Trick, that trio had been on the ice in five-on-five situations for a team-leading 326 minutes, 10 seconds.

In a distant but steady second place is the fourth line of Matt Nieto, Blake Lizotte and Noel Acciari at 135:13.

While that line’s shot attempt numbers are decidedly in the red (89 for and 133 against), it has generally led a low-event existence in terms of scoring. It has been on the ice for two goals for and only one against.

In contrast, the Rakell-Crosby- Rust line has a 17-24 deficit in terms of goals for and goals against when the three players have been on the ice in common five-on-five situations.

And perhaps above all else, the Nieto-Lizotte-Acciari line has accrued the most important — though hardly tangible — attribute.

Trust from the coaches. “One of the things that we like about that line is it has a distinct identity and a role on how they can help us win,” coach Mike Sullivan said recently in Cranberry. “And that identity is being a line that’s hard to play against, that can build momentum by establishing a forecheck. (Nieto) can really skate. (Lizotte) has got good speed. (Acciari) is a gritty guy that blocks shots, is strong on the wall, strong at the net-front, defends hard. (Acciari) can take faceoffs on the right side. (Lizotte) can take faceoffs on the left side.

“They get a lot of defensive-zone starts against other team’s top players. It gives us the ability to utilize other lines in a different way. We have kept that line together, and those are the reasons why. We’ve liked the role that they’ve played and more often than not, get the job done for us.”

It’s not the first time Sullivan and company have deployed a line such as this. Perhaps most famously, the Penguins utilized Zach Aston- Reese, Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev in a similar capacity during the 201920 and 2020-21 seasons. And last season, Acciari skated with Jeff Carter and Jansen Harkins under a similar mandate.

Acciari sees parallels with his current linemates.

“We’re relied to be strong in the (defensive) zone,” Acciari said. “We’ve got a lot of different attributes. (Lizotte) is a little waterbug out there. (Nieto) is smart with the puck. Me playing wing is a little different. There’s definitely some similarities.”

Lizotte was signed as an unrestricted free agent this past offseason to invigorate the bottom-six forwards. And while defense has been a staple of his career since he entered the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings in 2019, being used this often as a defensive entity is a new convention.

“The way we’re used defensively — you look at our (defensive) zone starts, the percentage of shifts start in our (defensive) zone — it says a lot about the trust from the coaches,” Lizotte said. “Each of us knows our role in terms of what the team needs. We all have an understanding.”

Nieto has skated in a defensive role throughout this career, most prominently as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. And he was largely utilized like that last season — his first campaign with the Penguins — until a knee injury ended his season in early November.

He rejoined the Penguins’ NHL lineup Nov. 15, and almost a month later, he was placed on a line with Acciari and Lizotte for a 9-2 road win against the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 12.

“They’re awesome guys to play with,” Nieto said. “(Lizotte) is tenacious and really good at hunting down pucks. Noel is one of the toughest guys I’ve played with. He takes a beating every night. Sacrifices his body blocking shots and making hits. We know what our role is and what is demanded of us. We just try to go out there and do our best every night.”

To be certain, Penguins coaches haven’t been afraid to break up the trio. Nieto was a healthy scratch for three games earlier this month.

But there is a level of trust in how they perform their primary function as a line.

“You know what you’re going to get out of them,” goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said. “Every shift, they’re giving their all. You can put them out in almost any situation, really. After you give up a goal, after you score a goal, anything to keep the momentum, get the momentum back. … Sometimes, it’s not the sexiest things that they do for us, but it’s the little things, the details of the game that go a long way as well.”