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Penguins make major lineup change after poor start.
Dan Hamilton/USA Today  

Penguins make major lineup change after poor start.

The Pittsburgh Penguins made a major shakeup to their forward lines on Monday, one involving the team's two biggest stars.

Jonathan Larivee

The Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves the losers of 5 consecutive games early in the season and as a result have plummeted to the bottom of the standings in the National Hockey League's Metropolitan Division. Only intrastate rivals the Philadelphia Flyers are currently ranked lower in the Metro and on Monday that appeared to result in some drastic changes to the team's lineup.

Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were featured on the team's top line on Monday, with head coach Mike Sullivan plucking Malkin from the center position on the second line and slotting him on Crosby's wing instead. Now to be fair this could be the result of forward Bryan Rust missing practice due to an injury, but it may also be a desperate play on the part of Sullivan to jolt some life into his struggling team.

Both Kevin Hayes and Jesse Puljujarvi were bumped up from the team's fourth line as a result of the decision to bump Malkin up to the top line, with Puljujarvi remaining on the wing and Hayes now centering the second line. Anthony Beauvillier remained in his usual spot on the second line.

Lars Eller is still centering the Penguins' third line but he will now be joined by Noel Acciari, who moves up from the fourth line, and forward Drew O'Connor. Michael Bunting and Valtteri Puustinen were both bumped down to the fourth line with Cody Glass centering that line during today's practice.

It is unclear how much of this is a direct result of the injury to Rust but it does feel like a bit of desperation on the part of the Penguins, which may not be uncalled for after their tough start to the season.

The Penguins have not only lost 5 in a row but have also recorded a -13 goal different through their first 10 games of the season, and that will need to change if they want to have any hope of competing for the playoffs this season.