CRANBERRY —The Pittsburgh Penguins' lineup and probably their play will look a bit different for the next couple of weeks, at least.
The team announced Tuesday morning that top defenseman Erik Karlsson would be out for at least a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury. The resulting shifts will put more pressure on D-man Kris Letang , as well as thrust others, such as Jack St. Ivany , into larger roles.
St. Ivany sort of laughed and smiled broadly. Is he excited for the challenge?
"Oh, yeah, definitely," he told Pittsburgh Hockey Now.
The Penguins' blue line will have quite the slack to pick up. Karlsson has 33 points (4-29-33) in 44 games, as well as leading the Penguins' power play to a consistent top-three ranking and weeks at No. 1 in the NHL.
Presumably, a bulk of the task of filling a No. 1 defenseman's role will fall on Letang, who was the top dog on the Penguins' blue line for the better part of 20 years. At 38 years old, Letang is still averaging nearly 22 minutes per game (21:50).
"He's a unique player. You can't replace a guy like that. So you have to play your game, and we have to play solid," Letang said. "Nothing's changed for everybody. Everybody has their role and their job, and they have to do it the best they can. And you will never be able to replace a guy like Erik Karlsson ."
For starters, Letang was back on the top power play unit at the morning skate, and his pairing with Brett Kulak is the one unchanged.
Karlsson's frequent left-side partner, Parker Wotherspoon , skated with the right-handed St. Ivany at the skate, and Connor Clifton was with Ryan Shea .
"Yeah, Erik is a phenomenal player. Obviously, he's a big part of this team, so it's not going to help with him coming out of the lineup," said Wotherspoon. "As it's always just been around here, it's a next man up mentality. So, hopefully we can keep things rolling and get back on track."
Brett Kulak- Kris Letang
Parker Wotherspoon -Jack St. Ivany
Ryan Shea-Connor Clifton
The Penguins winger was a confirmed full participant at the skate, resuming his customary role beside Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell .
Rust eschewed his usual coy denial about returning and indicated he would play, then knocked on his wooden dressing stall for luck. However, Muse was more reserved, indicating a few more conversations needed to be had before Rust was officially cleared.
Without Rust in the lineup, the Penguins scored only one goal over two games last weekend. The Penguins lost to the Calgary Flames 2-1 Saturday and 1-0 to the Boston Bruins Sunday.
Muse's line combos were still a little different and kept Evgeni Malkin on the wing.
Rust-Crosby-Rakell
Malkin-Kindel-Chinakhov
Mantha-Novak-Brazeau
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
It does not appear Tristan Broz's second recall will immediately result in NHL ice time. Broz was a part of the morning skate on Tuesday, but as a spare forward.
Muse indicated his recall was a matter of position flexibility if the team needs another center–presumably, if Rust cannot play and Novak returns to the top-line wing spot.
"It's an option in the middle. I think when you're going in, and you have some unknowns, some things you've got to figure out in terms of availability," Muse said. "It just gives you another option there, and Broz has been playing well. I still need to have some final decisions or final conversations in regards to tonight, but it gives another option."
Broz made his NHL debut on Nov. 26, but served as a healthy scratch in the following couple of games before being returned to WBS.
The post Penguins Notebook: Replacing Karlsson, Rust Update, & Why Broz appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
Related Headlines
