The Penguins have one final chance in 2014 to end their current losing streak, and shake off some of the last few weeks. The Penguins have lost four consecutive games coming into tonight’s matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, their longest losing streak of the year and longest since January of 2012.
Four Penguins are poised to return to the lineup tonight, as forwards Beau Bennett and Craig Adams and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff have been removed from the injured reserve, and Thomas Greiss will resume his normal duties as the backup to Marc-Andre Fleury.
Adams and Ehrhoff have both missed five games with injuries. Bennett has missed 16 games, first with a right knee injury, and then with the mumps. Greiss had also been sidelined with the mumps.
“Take it one shift at a time, try and get a lot of shots on net, try to create offensively, at the same time, be responsible in your own [defensive] zone,” Bennett said of his game plan after missing so much time.
THE 4077: Right-winger Steve Downie, who also had the mumps, has been skating with the team and is close to returning to action, as are defenseman Paul Martin and forward Zach Sill, who have been sidelined with undisclosed injuries.
UP AND DOWN: With much of the lineup getting healthy, goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, forward Dominik Uher, and defenseman Brian Dumoulin were all returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The Carolina Hurricanes have struggled with injuries of their own, but they got a key player back on Monday as Jordan Staal made his season debut.
The former Penguins center had an assist in just over 19 minutes of ice time in his season debut.
“Adding Jordan Staal to their [forward] group tonight will be a big plus,” said Penguins head coach Mike Johnston. “With both [Jordan and Erik] Staal and [Nathan] Gerbe on one line, it’s a very dynamic line.”
This is the third and final matchup between the teams this season. The two clubs split a home-and-home series in late November, with the Hurricanes taking a 4-2 victory in Pittsburgh, and the Penguins returned the favor the next night with a 3-2 win in Raleigh.
Cam Ward is expected to start in goal for the Canes. Ward started for Carolina in their win in Pittsburgh earlier in the season. In 22 career games against the Penguins, he has a 13-6-3 record and a .923 save percentage.
MINOR MATTERS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (18-12-3, 1st AHL East) host the Hershey Bears this afternoon at 3:05 p.m.
The Wheeling Nailers (13-14, 4th ECHL North) defeated the Gwinnett Gladiators 3-1 on Monday. Shawn Skelly had his first goal as a Nailer, Chaz Johnson scored twice, and Eric Hartzell made 38 saves.
#CAWLIDGEHAWKEY: The Robert Morris Colonials came in second and the Penn State Nittany Lions finished a disappointing fourth in the Three Rivers Classic at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday. Full coverage here.
