In all honesty, i don't think it makes that enormous of a difference either way, the principle reason is that whilst we had a three game winning streak it was easy to justify Larssons continued exclusion, but since we lost tonight (even though the score looks worse than it actually was) it wouldn't hurt to make a couple of minor changes to shake things up a little but.
In all honesty, Gelinas hasn't been "bad" at all, but he hasn't been amazing either; Severson and Merrill have stood out more amongst the youngsters. Gelinas has been the least impressive of the three, sitting out a game or two and giving Larsson a fair shot to make a claim for the spot isn't a bad idea.
Same goes for the fourth line, i haven't been impressed with Tootoo (or Gionta) not because they've been atrociously bad, but they haven't really looked that good or done anything noteworthy. We have other options, we may as well see what they can bring whilst the season is still in its infancy, especially against the Sharks in a game i imagine we're heavy favourites to lose regardless.
It isn't about punishing certain players, it's about giving everyone a fair chance to stake a claim for their spot, Gelinas has had a few games, give Larsson a couple and see if he can make himself stand out. Same goes for Gomez in my opinion, i severely doubt anyone will claim Tootoo, we can always bring him back up at a later date.