With Blake Lizotte sidelined for the past five games because of an undisclosed injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins have slid Connor Dewar from left wing to the center station on the fourth line over that span.
The assignment isn’t foreign to Dewar, who is listed as a center on official league documents as well as web pages and entered the NHL in 2021 at the position. Since joining the Penguins in a trade last March, he has primarily been deployed as a left winger.
“I’ve probably played about 150 games at center,” Dewar said Wednesday in Cranberry. “It’s something I’m comfortable with. I didn’t do it much last year. And obviously, not very much this year (when Lizotte has been) healthy. It’s something that I’m comfortable with doing.”
Another degree of comfort is provided by the right winger on the fourth line, Noel Acciari. Also listed as a center, Acciari has primarily played in the middle throughout his 11-year career but largely has been deployed as a right winger the past two seasons.
With Lizotte, Acciari and Dewar, the so-called “LAD Line” has three players capable of taking faceoffs and filling other duties typically assigned to the center role.
Lizotte and Dewar are left-handed, whereas Acciari is right-handed.
“It’s a great dynamic we’ve had on our line all season in Blake being a lefty and Noel being a righty, for taking faceoffs on your strong side,” Dewar said. “It takes a lot of stress out of the faceoffs when you know Noel can take them on my off side.”
Lizotte’s status has been labeled as “week-to-week,” so it’s uncertain when he’ll be able to rejoin the lineup.
Mantha sidelined
Penguins forward Anthony Mantha was withheld from practice Wednesday because of an undisclosed injury.
He has been labeled as “day-to-day” and will travel with the team for a road game against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
The specific nature of his ailment isn’t publicly known. Mantha finished Tuesday’s 6-2 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche with no visible impairment.
One of five players who have appeared in all 71 of the Penguins’ games this season, Mantha has set career highs for goals (26), assists (27) and points (53) while averaging 15 minutes, 3 seconds of ice time.
During Tuesday’s game, he replaced another injured player, Evgeni Malkin, on the right wing of the second line as well as the top power-play unit.
Malkin remains “day-to-day” with an unspecified malady and will not travel to Ottawa, according to Muse.