Penguins Practice: Blomqvist Injured; More Defense Changes

CRANBERRY — Questions about Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist and why he hasn’t been playing in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton now have an answer.

Blomqvist, 23, hasn’t played since his second NHL stint ended with a few shaky losses, and the organization re-assigned him to the WBS Penguins on Feb. 18. Blomqvist was noticeably absent from the WBS lineup following his demotion as goalie prospect Sergei Murashov took over the net and reeled off three straight wins from March 8 to 16.

The mystery was cleared up Saturday when goalie Joel Blomqvist joined the injured Pittsburgh players during the injury skate before the full Penguins practice. Since Blomqvist remains on the WBS roster, the Pittsburgh Penguins do not provide official updates.

On Friday, coach Mike Sullivan reported that the other injured players, Ryan Shea, P.O Joseph, and Tommy Novak, remain status quo. Novak was termed day-to-day but hasn’t played since March 9. Joseph and Shea remain out week-to-week.

UPDATE 1: Sullivan updated Novak’s status. The player did not suffer a setback but is not healing as quickly as expected.

Saturday, the Penguins put in a full practice, ending with the customary special teams work before departing for their three-game road trip, which begins in Florida on Sunday.

Read More: Penguins Room: Sullivan Pushes Buttons; Boko, Others See a Chance

The forward lines remained the same Saturday. However, Sullivan is still trying to find defense pairings that don’t cause an immediate bout of acid reflux and muttered expletives.

Matt Grzelcyk skated with Kris Letang, not Erik Karlsson, while Connor Timmins took the left side with Karlsson. Timmins is a righty, which would go against Sullivan’s preference for D-men to play on their strong side, but injuries and ineffectiveness are leaving coaches with little choice.

Penguins Lines

Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust

Connor Dewar-Evgeni Malkin-Philip Tomasino

Joona Koppanen-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari

Danton Heinen-Kevin Hayes-Boko Imama

Defense

Conor Timmons-Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves-Vladislv Kolyachonok

Update 2: Sullivan downplayed the certainty of using Timmins with Karlsson as “just exploring.” The team paired Timmins with Letang on Thursday at practice and kept the configuration for the Friday win over Columbus.