Pittsburgh Penguins to healthy scratch a top star after a poor start to the season

Through six games this season, the Pittsburgh Penguins sit at 3-3-0, and while they could be off to a much worse start after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for two straight seasons, there's certainly plenty of room to improve. After a lethargic 4-1 defeat at the hands of the division rival Carolina Hurricanes, frustration began to show for Head Coach Mike Sullivan, who lambasted the team's effort in the loss that took them to a 1-2-0 mark at home this season.

The team are set to make one roster change after the defeat with the recall of goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, but now they've reportedly made a change to the lineup that's much more surprising.

According to a report, the Penguins practice lines on Saturday revealed a big change, with forward Michael Bunting seemingly a healthy scratch after a slow start to the season in which he has posted just one assist and a goal differential of 0 through six games.

Unsurprisingly, given the style of play that Bunting employs and his relative success a season ago, the decision is facing plenty of backlash on social media as fans look to rationalize changes after a dreadful start to the season.

While Bunting had some success a year ago, it's hard to ignore his slow start to the season, so perhaps a one or two game break will do him some good, but with very few experienced options to replace him, it's certainly a bold choice from Sullivan. This next week for Pittsburgh will consist of four games in Canada doing battle with Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, a tough stretch of games for a struggling team, so we will wait and see if Bunting makes his way back into the lineup at some point.