Mike Sullivan Shakes Up the Defense with Bold Line Change

Kyle Dubas' Penguins have won four of their last five games, suddenly making the team a threat in the race for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Suddenly, every game feels critical for the team, especially their next matchup tomorrow night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Columbus is one of the teams ahead of Pittsburgh in the standings, but their own recent struggles have seen the club fall out of a playoff spot.

Should the Penguins win the game, it would bring them within two points of the Blue Jackets in the standings and potentially within five points of the last playoff position.

As such, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan is taking the game as seriously as ever.

However, he is making one lineup choice that has some fans scratching their heads.

Defenseman Conor Timmins,who was just acquired by the team from the Maple Leafs, is being elevated into a top-pair role alongside veteran Kris Letang.

Sullivan was highly complimentary of Timmins after practice this morning, saying that he has 'played extremely well' and deserves an opportunity for a bigger role.

Since the trade, Timmins has appeared in five games with the Penguins, putting up a goal, 4 assists, and a +7 rating.

He had just 2 goals and 8 points in 51 games with the Leafs this season.

Hopefully this move does not backfire on Sullivan, but to be fair, even if the team does defeat Columbus tomorrow, their path to the playoffs is still very slim.

Besides that, it is probably better for the team in the long-term to get the best draft position possible for their first-round pick this summer.