Penguins Activate John Marino; Put Malkin, Blueger on IR

The Pittsburgh Penguins made their official roster moves 90 minutes before game-time on Thursday evening. The Penguins upgraded defenseman John Marino’s status to active, and the Penguins recalled three more players to fill out their fourth line in the wake of several injuries.

The Penguins officially activated Marino, then recalled Anthony Angello, center Frederick Gaudreau, and Colton Sceviour.

Angello and Sceviour have been regulars in the recent Penguins lineups, and the matter was a paper transaction.

The Penguins also placed Evgeni Malkin on IR retroactive to March 16 and Teddy Blueger on IR retroactive to March 15. It should be noted neither Malkin nor Blueger was placed on LTIR, so the Penguins may activate either without waiting 24 days.

The second-year professional Marino has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury. The 23-year old has recorded one goal, four assists, five points and is plus-2 in 25 games. Marino ranks second on Pittsburgh in time on ice, averaging 22:57 minutes per game.

Malkin, 34, has the third-most points on the team. He has 24 points (8g, 16a), and his eight-game point streak (4g, 8a) from March 2-15 was snapped when he was injured early in the game on Tuesday.

On March 15 against Boston, Malkin hit the 1,100-career point mark, making him just the third Penguin (Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby) and third Russian-born player (Sergei Fedorov, Alex Ovechkin) to record 1,100 career points.

Blueger, 26, has tallied four goals, 11 assists, and 15 points in 28 games this season, including a career-long tying four-game point streak (1g, 3a) from March 7-13.

John Marino is expected to pair with Marcus Pettersson for the Penguins third pairing on Thursday.

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