The Pittsburgh Penguins will finally have a full lineup again for today’s 2:00 p.m. faceoff against the Columbus Blue Jackets, as defenseman Taylor Chorney has been recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
With Evgeni Malkin missing Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to Philadelphia with an undisclosed injury, the Penguins were finally able to bring up a defenseman. Chorney, 27, was chosen over prospects Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington.
The Pens had played their previous two games with only five defensemen since losing Kris Letang to a concussion against the Arizona Coyotes on March 28.
“They’ve only been playing five (defensemen), so even a just a few minutes of good play would be nice to give these guys a break,” Chorney said.
Chorney played two games with the Penguins in late December, seeing minimal ice time as an extra forward. He’s been excellent with Wilkes-Barre, leading all players with a plus-26 rating, and scoring four goals and 15 assists in 62 games.
THE 4077: Letang has not skated or practiced since his concussion and is out indefinitely.
Fellow defenseman Christian Ehrhoff (upper body) has begun skating, but will not be with the team on this weekend’s road trip to Columbus and Philadelphia. He will be skating back in Pittsburgh with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar and could possibly rejoin his teammates on Tuesday in Ottawa.
Center Evgeni Malkin (undisclosed) practiced in full with the team on Friday, but will not play today. Head coach Mike Johnston said there is a chance that Malkin could play on Sunday in Philadelphia.
TODAY’S OPPONENT: Despite being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the Columbus Blue Jackets are the hottest team in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets have won eight straight games and 11 of their last 12.
More impressively, six of their last seven wins have come against teams currently in playoff position.
Offensively, Columbus is led by 22-year old center Ryan Johansen and left-winger Nick Foligno. Johansen has 26 goals and 43 assists in 77 games and Foligno has leads the team with 27 goals and a plus-11 rating along with 40 assists.
SCOREBOARD WATCHING: With the Penguins have fallen out of the top three in the Metropolitan Division and into one of the two wild card positions.
Currently, the Penguins would cross over to the Atlantic Division and face the Montreal Canadiens in the first round.
The Penguins’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is five; meaning that any combination of the Penguins gaining five points or the Ottawa Senators losing five points will clinch a berth for the Pens.
MINOR MATTERS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (39-23-7, 2nd in AHL East) beat Hartford 4-3 on Wednesday, but lost 4-2 to Worcester on Friday. Jeff Zatkoff got the start in goal in both games, making 37 saves in the victory over Hartford and 32 saves in the losing effort Friday night.
Rookie Kasperi Kapanen has joined the team, but is not expected to make his North American debut this weekend. The Penguins are dealing with several injuries, and two more names got added to that list on Friday, as center Carter Rowney and defenseman Harrison Ruopp were both scratched with upper-body injuries. Defenseman Clark Seymour was called up from Wheeling.
The AHL Penguins’ three-game home stand will wrap up tonight with a 7:05 p.m. faceoff against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. WBS can clinch a playoff berth with a win and some help.
After clawing their way into a playoff position last weekend, the Wheeling Nailers (33-32-2, 5th in ECHL North) dropped two straight this week to fall one point back of the Cincinnati Cyclones for the fourth and final playoff spot in the ECHL North. The Nailers still have a game in hand on the Cyclones.
On Friday, the Nailers welcomed a host of reinforcements. Defenseman David Makowski and goaltender Franky Palazzese were returned from AHL Hamilton. The Nailers also added a pair of college free agents.
Forward Adam Krause, formerly of Minnesota-Duluth, was signed to an AHL deal by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but assigned to Wheeling and made his debut on Friday. Joining him was defenseman Tommy Fallen of Yale, who was signed to an ECHL deal. The Nailers travel to Kalamazoo for an 8:00 faceoff against the third-place Wings tonight.
Photo credit: Pittsburgh Penguins (main), NCHC (inset)
