The Florida Panthers will get their chance to avenge the Penguins 3-1 victory on Saturday night. The Penguins lineup is again missing some parts as Brandon Sutter, Steve Downie, and Thomas Greiss did not make the trip to Florida with the team. The trio is in Pittsburgh being tested for the mumps virus that has been plaguing the team for weeks.
“I think I’m become a medical expert, but I don’t really want to be,” said Penguins head coach Mike Johnston.
It’s the second time in a week Greiss has had to be tested for the disease. Sutter and Downie will each miss their first game of the season. Only Rob Scuderi, Evgeni Malkin, and Nick Spaling will have played in every game this season for the Penguins.
With two forwards missing from their lineup, the Penguins will dress seven defensemen for the first time this season, with Taylor Chorney suiting up for the first time in a Penguins jersey as the extra blueliner. Chorney will be the 11th different defenseman the Penguins have used this season.
Jeff Zatkoff was again recalled to replace Greiss and will serve as the backup goaltender tonight, assuming he and his gear are able to get to Miami on time. Penguins goaltending coach Mike Bales would be the backup in an emergency situation.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The Panthers will have only minor changes to their lineup, with Alexsander Barkov and Brandon Pirri drawling in for Thomas Fleischmann and Brad Boyes.
The Panthers played well on Saturday despite their loss.
“If we play like that every night, I think we win more games that we lose,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said to NHL.com. “So I was really happy with our group tonight.”
The Panthers outshot the Penguins 46-34 and that figure doesn’t include the 19 blocks by Penguins players.
BUCKET LIST: Penguins defensemen Kris Letang and Willie Mitchell got into a scrap on Saturday night. Despite Letang not fighting very often, the tilt was even more notable because after the linesmen intervened, Mitchell removed Letang’s helmet and hit him with it.
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Mitchell was only given five minutes for fighting, but it will be interested to see if there will be any carryover. Saturday night’s game was unusually chippy for non-divisional opponents, with 76 penalty minutes handed out.
POINSETTIA? Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was named the NHL’s third star of the week. In three games last week, Fleury went 3-0 with a 0.99 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. He also set a career high with his sixth shutout, which leads the league.
MINOR MATTERS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (17-10-3, 1st in AHL East) shutout the Binghamton Senators 3-0 on Saturday. Matt Murray backstopped a ragtag defense that included three rookies, with Paul Cianfrini making his AHL debut. Rookie blueliner Alex Boak scored his first professional goal for the game-winner. Nick Drazenovic returned after missing several weeks with a lower-body injury and scored a goal. Conor Sheary also scored for the Penguins.
The Wheeling (12-12, 3rd in ECHL North) lost 5-3 to the Greenville Road Warriors. Derek Army, Tyler Murovich, and David Gilbert scored for the Nailers. Franky Palazzese made 19 saves in the loss.
Photo credit: NHL.com
