Penguins winger Beau Bennett will return to the lineup tonight after missing the last five games. Bennett was injured celebrating a goal in the team’s 3-2 loss against the Montreal Canadiens on October 13.
In that game, Bennett was one of the Penguins best players, scoring a goal on six shots in 14:05 of ice time. Now, after two weeks on the injured reserve, he’ll try to get back in the swing of things.
“Beau will play tonight,” Penguins head coach Mike Johnston confirmed after morning skate. “He’ll be moved up and down the lineup, but he’ll be in tonight.”
The Penguins did not skate in line rushes during today’s morning skate, but expect the top six groups to remain unchanged with Beau Bennett slotting in on the third or fourth line.
“I feel good,” Bennett said after practice on Tuesday. “I definitely want to get back in the game and see how that feels.”
This is a critical year for Bennett to finally carve a niche for himself as an NHL player after spending much of his pro career injured or in the minors.
“I liked the way he finished,” Johnston said of the start to Bennett’s season. “The last game he had was a real good game for him. I thought he had a very good training camp for us.”
METRO WOES
The Penguins finished the 2014-15 season with an abysmal 9-17-4 record against the Metropolitan Division. Tonight, they will play their first game against a divisional opponent this season.
“We talked about how important these division games are,” Johnston said. “We didn’t like our record early in the year against the division teams last year. We’ve got to get off on a better start. It’ll be a battle.”
HOT HOLTBY
One of the reasons for the Capitals success, in particular, against the Penguins was goaltender Braden Holtby. Holtby, who will start tonight, went 3-1 against the Pens in 2014-15 with a .957 save percentage and a 1.27 goals-against average.
EVEN UP
Washington forward Evgeny Kuznetsov has been one of the biggest success stories in the early part of the NHL season. Kuznetsov is fifth in the league with 11 points in seven games.
Even more impressively, the young Russian has recorded nine of his 11 points at even strength. He trails only Tyler Seguin of Dallas in even-strength scoring.
Photo creidt: NHLI/Getty Images
