Connect with us

Penguins Notebook

Penguins News Roundup 3/14/18: Rust vs. Rags? Plus Three-Peat Talk

The Penguins (40-26-4) begin their 16th back-to-back situation of the season on Wednesday Night Rivalry.

Published

on

Michael Miller (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0]

1:15 p.m.: Per Mike Sullivan after morning skate at Madison Square Garden, Rust is a game-time decision and Murray took a full assortment of shots during the workout.

Casey DeSmith was the first goalie off the ice this morning, indicating he’ll get his second consecutive start.

10 a.m.: The Penguins (40-26-4) begin their 16th back-to-back situation of the season with a Wednesday Night Rivalry matchup against the Rangers in New York. Practically speaking, that means faceoff is an hour later than usual, at 8 p.m., and NBC Sports Network is carrying the game exclusively.

Rebuilding New York (31-32-7) is in last place in the Metropolitan Division and will turn to Bulgarian rookie goalie Alexandar Georgiev tonight in lieu of the usual dose of Henrik Lundqvist. Doesn’t appear that Matt Murray (concussion) is quite ready to come back tonight, per Shelly Anderson‘s reporting yesterday, so look for an all-rookie matchup in the crease.

Bryan Rust (concussion) shed the non-contact jersey at Tuesday’s practice in Cranberry, so look for him to get back in the lineup this evening, probably on Derick Brassard‘s left wing, with Phil Kessel on the other side. Keep it here for any further news on lineups and injuries throughout the day!

Moving on …

• Dan Kingerski explores the Senators stink that Brassard is trying to shed. So far, Dan writes, it’s been a challenge.

• Shelly reports that the Penguins are, as a whole, unafraid to stump for Evgeni Malkin‘s MVP candidacy.

• Finally, Matt Gajtka was the featured guest Wednesday morning on the Only Pittsburgh Sports (OPS) Podcast, with co-hosts Dan Hopper and D.J. Gallo firing questions on the stretch run and the Penguins’ three-peat chances. The guys also tried to make Matt deliver a Hot Take on Murray and Conor Sheary‘s name, among other fun: