Pittsburgh Penguins

Kovacevic: For the Penguins, survival begins in the back (with a child, no less)

John Marino #6 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates with teammates after scoring a second period goal against Jaroslav Halak #41 of the Boston Bruins (not pictured) at TD Garden on November 04 (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH — Anyone remember way back when John Marino was that cute, cuddly hey-this-kid-just-might-make-it story in camp? Or when he actually did make it, straight from college to the NHL?

Or when he began bumping bona fide veterans off the blue line?

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Yeah, those were simpler times, to put it mildly. Because here we are now, a week into December after the Penguins' 2-0 blanking of the Coyotes on this Friday night at PPG Paints Arena, and Marino's skating on the top pairing alongside Kris Letang, he's being entrusted with the main opposition matchups, he's taking a regular turn on penalty-killing and, at least if you ask me, he's getting tasked with saving the 2019-20 season.

Over the top?

OK, I'll word it another way: Nothing will matter more for these guys in the next month or two than how they defend. Without Sidney Crosby, among other forwards, they'll struggle to score. And without Brian Dumoulin, they'll lack by far their most formidable presence on left defense, their position of least depth.

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