(UPDATED) Penguins’ Rutta, Petry Avoid Injury; Poehling IN Lineup
NEW YORK — The Pittsburgh Penguins’ blue line seemingly reached its annual March zenith of injuries. Tuesday, Jan Rutta was felled by a knuckling shot that hit the inside of his left knee. Jeff Petry did not return for the third period with an unspecified injury.
However, both were present and accounted for the Penguins’ morning skate at Madison Square Garden Thursday morning.
“Something wasn’t right. Felt it was better to get it checked,” Petry said after the skate.
The Penguins had to play with just four defensemen in the third period in their 6-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday. Only Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin, P.O Joseph, and Marcus Pettersson finished the game.
Thursday morning, Petry and Rutta were on the ice and in their customary roles among the Penguins’ top six defensemen.
“Obviously,” Rutta said with a smile when asked if the shot hit him in an area without padding.
Coach Mike Sullivan did not have an update on either Tuesday night, only that the pair were still being evaluated, though it seems the Penguins’ escaped significant damage. If Sullivan offers contrary information after the skate, PHN will update the story.
Forward Ryan Poehling, who has been dealing with a nagging injury that has kept him out of the lineup since Feb. 11, was part of the Penguins’ line rushes. The team has not yet activated Poehling, who is still listed on LTIR per PuckPedia.com; such a move could occur later Thursday afternoon.
UPDATE: Poehling confirmed he will play Thursday.
“I am (playing). I’m excited,” he said. “It’s been a long time, so I’m just looking forward to getting back on track. We’ve got 15 games left in the season to get back into it and feel good come playoff time
The Penguins placed defenseman Dmitry Kulikov on LTIR Wednesday, which cleared enough space to activate Poehling if he is ready. Danton Heinen served as the extra forward at the skate. Heinen, Jeff Carter, and Josh Archibald were essentially benched on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh Penguins Lines:
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Zucker-Malkin-Nylander
O’Connor-Granlund-Rakell
Poehling-Carter-Archibald
Defense:
Pettersson-Letang
Dumoulin-Petry
Joseph-Rutta
Goalie:
Tristan Jarry
Categorized:Penguins
So the fastest forward on the roster (Poehling) is on a line centered by the slowest forward (Carter). Makes a lot of sense. Not!
Actually, it does.
Bonino I think was slower when he was here the last time. So they put him on a line with the two fastest guys on the team and let him use his strengths.
Not sure Carter has any strengths anymore except standing in the faceoff circle, none the less…
Bonino is slow but gets an A grade for being in the right place at the right time. It works with faster linemates. Carter…not so much. He’s always “behind”….and has to skate to catch up to the play. Therein lies the difference between these 2 players.
Jeff Carter is the one who should go to the bench.
Heinin-Poehling-Archibald looks much better on paper. On the ice. On the street. On fantasy teams. On the moon. Etc. Etc.
Carter on the 4th line should’ve been put there since the trade deadline. He now has youth, grit and speed to compliment his declining years. The 3rd line looks good, now is the time for Jarry to play to the best of his ability.
Dan, can a 35 Plus contract be traded if the player retires. Basically, if Carter retires after this season can they trade his cap hit or are they stuck with it since it is a 35 Plus contract
A retired player can’t be traded. If he’s on LTIR, he can be traded, but only Arizona does that and I think they’re already full up of dead money