Penguins forwards Evan Rodrigues, Bryan Rust labeled as 'game-time decisions'
Penguins forwards Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust were each labeled as “game-time decisions” for Thursday’s home game against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena.
Both players left Tuesday’s 5-4 road shootout loss to the Islanders due to undisclosed illnesses. Neither participated in Thursday’s morning skate.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan announced their statuses following the morning skate while noting each player is feeling better.
Should either player be absent, the Penguins may not be able to dress a full lineup in Thursday’s game.
At the moment, the Penguins only have $11,861 of salary cap space according to Cap Friendly. That figure does not allow for any potential recalls from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
(Note: A league minimum contract is $750,000).
And with forward Evgeni Malkin one game into a four-game suspension, the Penguins might only have 10 forwards available for Thursday’s game should Rodrigues and Rust be sidelined.
The NHL’s collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) does have a roster emergency exception clause that allows for teams to recall players who have a cap hit of less than $800,000 to be recalled in the event a team is unable to play with 18 skaters — there is no distinction between forwards or defensemen — and two goaltenders. But that team must play one game without a full lineup before that transaction can occur.
In recent weeks, several Penguins players have missed games or practices due to an undisclosed illness. The team has not specified the nature of the ailment other than to note it is not related to covid-19.
During Tuesday’s morning skate, the Penguins only had three lines — with the third line involving four forwards — at their disposal.
All seven of the team’s defensemen are presumably healthy and could potentially see a shift or two as a forward.
“We would consider all possibilities,” Sullivan said. “For sure, we would for sure consider using a defenseman up front. We’ve already done that this year. We’ll try to manage the bench accordingly. It presents a different challenge when you have a shortened bench. It was the case (Tuesday) night quite honestly for most of the night. … We had lost those two guys fairly early in the game.
“You’re trying to manage the bench accordingly. You’re trying to get guys proper rest. You try to get them out in advantageous positions. It makes it a little bit more challenging from a matchup standpoint and things like that just because I think rest and recovery becomes the priority because you don’t have that extra line. We’ll manage it accordingly depending on what players we have available to us. We’ll put a game plan together and then we’ll adjust as we go.”
During the morning skate, the Penguins’ lines and pairs were:
59 Jake Guentzel - 87 Sidney Crosby - 67 Rickard Rakell
16 Jason Zucker - 77 Jeff Carter - 43 Danton Heinen
23 Brock McGinn - 53 Teddy Blueger - 11 Brian Boyle - 42 Kasperi Kapanen
5 Mike Matheson - 58 Kris Letang
8 Brian Dumoulin - 6 John Marino
52 Mark Friedman - 2 Chad Ruhwedel
The top power-play unit included Carter, Crosby, Guentzel, Letang and Rakell. The second power-play unit involved Heinen, Kapanen, Marino, Matheson and Zucker.
Notes:
• A win of any kind would secure a playoff berth for the Penguins. They have qualified for the postseason in the previous 15 seasons.
• The Penguins are expected to start goaltender Tristan Jarry. In 57 games this season, Jarry has a 33-18-6 record, a 2.41 goals against average, a .919 save percentage and four shutouts.
In his only appearance against the Islanders this season, Jarry made 25 saves and led his team to a 1-0 shutout on the road on Nov. 26.
• Rodrigues is the only member of the Penguins roster who has yet to miss a game this season. In 75 games he has scored 42 points (18 goals, 24 assists).
• The Islanders are expected to start goaltender Ilya Sorokin. In 45 games this season, Sorokin has a 24-14-7 record, a 2.30 goals against average, a .927 save percentage and six shutouts.
During Tuesday’s game, Sorokin claimed victory after making 43 saves on 47 shots in regulation and overtime.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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