Mix 'em up

Unless coach Mike Johnston has a major change of heart before this evening -- and there’s no indication that’s likely to happen -- the Penguins’ top two lines will look radically different when they face Boston tonight at 7:08 at TD Garden.

At the team’s game-day skate, Johnston has Crosby with Nick Spaling and Patric Hornqvist, while Evgeni Malkin was flanked by Chris Kunitz and Blake Comeau.

Separating Crosby and Kunitz was something of a surprise because they’ve been together for so long, but neither has generated much offense lately. Crosby has two points in the past six games, Kunitz one.

“It’s tough when you play with a guy for that long, but you have to produce and you have to be productive and consistent, and I don’t think we’ve been that,” Crosby said. “Sometimes, a change is good.”

It’s safe to assume that Kunitz didn’t request the change, but he seems to appreciate the thinking behind it.

“When we’re not playing well and our team isn’t doing the right things, you need to shake it up,” he said. “We haven’t really had the chemistry flowing five-on-five for a while. It seemed like we weren’t really clicking.”

The Penguins figure to have one more change up front: Fourth-line winger Zach Sill stayed on the ice for extra work after the game-day skate, which suggests Jayson Megna is likely to make his 2014-15 debut this evening.