Roberts joins Penguins' top line

The Penguins top line - Gary Roberts, Sidney Crosby and Mark Recchi - takes a break during practice at Mellon Arena, Feb. 28, 2007.

By Karen Price

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Thursday, March 1, 2007


NEW YORK - Penguins coach Michel Therrien cautioned against paying too much attention to his line combinations at practice Wednesday.
With two new forwards and a defenseman added to the team Tuesday before the NHL's trading deadline, Therrien said he'll likely do some experimenting in order to find the right blend.

But this much is certain: Gary Roberts, whom general manager Ray Shero acquired from the Florida Panthers for defensive prospect Noah Welch, will start tonight's game against the New York Rangers on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Mark Recchi.

"I can't believe I'm playing with those slugs, but it'll be OK," Roberts, 40, said jokingly after his first practice with the team at Mellon Arena. "Truthfully, I'm thrilled to have an opportunity to play with a kid like Crosby and obviously Recchi, I've known him and played against him for years and I know the kind of competitor he is. I'm really excited about the opportunity and hopefully I can help them out a bit."

The Penguins (33-20-9) could use some help of late.

Heading into tonight's game, they've lost three out of their past four following a torrid 14-0-2 streak. They were shut out, 1-0, by the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night and suffered one of their worst defeats of the season, a 5-1 loss Sunday to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"We're having a hard time (scoring) goals," Therrien said. "We're getting some chances, but we need more contribution offensively. If you don't score at least three goals, it's tough to win and lately we haven't been scoring three goals."

Ryan Malone, who was playing on Crosby's left side, will replace Jordan Staal on the second line. Staal moves to a line with Maxime Talbot and Colby Armstrong. Newcomer Georges Laraque, who spent yesterday traveling and joined the team in New York, will play with Erik Christensen and Jarkko Ruutu.

Newly acquired defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski, who also joined the team in New York, will not play tonight. Therrien said he wanted to give him a few days to practice with the team before inserting him into the lineup.

Roberts played most of the past two seasons in Florida on a line with Olli Jokinen. But whether it's Jokinen, Joe Nieuwendyk with the Calgary Flames, Ron Francis with the Carolina Hurricanes or Mats Sundin with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Roberts has a long history of playing alongside skilled players.

"I know I'm going to be in the corners, strong on the forecheck, trying to create some loose pucks, trying to get Sid and Mark the puck and go to the net," Roberts said. "Sid likes to handle the puck, he's obviously very creative, and I'm going to try to create some room for him and try to get to the net and pick up some garbage."

Crosby could use some more room on the ice.

Although he has 18 assists in his past 14 games and points in all but three of those games, Crosby has only one goal during that span.

Whether Roberts' presence will help is a question that may be answered tonight. If he's not a fit, Therrien may go back to the drawing board as early as Friday because, as he pointed out, he doesn't have that much time left to find the right combinations before the playoffs.

The Penguins have 20 games left in the regular season and play 17 games in March, more than any other NHL team.

"If we see the chemistry's not there, we don't have six months," Therrien said. "So we're going to have to make decisions really quick."