Another game and more defensemen are down for the Penguins as they try to sweep the Rangers for the second time this season tonight in New York.
Mike Sullivan says that Kris Letang's lower body injury which took him off the ice fairly early Saturday night is a day-to-day proposition so, based on the Pens early season luck, the news could have been much, much worse.
Nonetheless, Letang's absence for even one game is a big deal because of the major minutes Letang plays, especially on the power play and penalty kill. The Penguins got a taste of that Saturday when both second-year player John Marino and rookie Pierre-Olivier Joseph logged 26 minutes and Joseph actually thrived, assisting on 3 goals including Sidney Crosby's overtime game-winner.
The Penguins were dealt another blow on Monday when the team announced defenseman Brian Dumoulin was placed on injured reserve that is retroactive to January 26.
The Penguins have recalled defenseman William Reilly from the team's taxi squad.
Reilly was taken by the Penguins in the 7th round of the 2017 NHL Draft and has not played in a NHL game.
As his is custom, Sullivan would not reveal his exact line-up but there is a chance Marino and Joseph could team on a top pairing which would return Marino to his more comfortable right side. If Kevin Czuczman is added to the line-up that would give the Pens another left-handed shot and leave only one defensemen playing his off side. Czuczman, though, struggled in his only appearance this season, victimized on two Boston goals in a 4-1 loss although to be fair it was his first NHL game in 7 seasons.
Marino is likely to replace Letang on the top power play unit which wasn't clicking recently, anyway, even with Letang in the line-up.
Then Saturday Marino was caught pinching on a Bryan Rust give-away which led to a 2-on-0 shorthanded goal although the Penguins did recover to take two points.
"We're working the kinks out, we've done some video work," Marino said after a game-day skate about the power play, "it's all about everyone just being on the same page and working together as one unit." Sullivan hinted that there may be other personnel changes on the power play, as well.
As for Joseph's workload which certainly didn't overwhelm him the other night, Sullivan remains cautious. "P.O. obviously had a good game for us the other night," he said, "but we also understand it's a hard league and he's a young player. We try to put each player in the best position to be successful."
Since Sullivan classified Letang as "day-to-day," that would mean he could return on Saturday when the Penguins play the Islanders.
Sullivan says Casey DeSmith, who stopped 30 of 34 shots against the Rangers Saturday, will start again in goal tonight.
