Penguins forwards Evan Rodrigues, Bryan Rust return to lineup
Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust were in the lineup to open Thursday’s home game against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena.
Each player left Tuesday’s 5-4 road shootout loss to the Islanders early because of undisclosed illnesses. In that contest, Rust did not record a shift after the 3-minute, 15-second mark of the first period, and Rodrigues did not step on the ice after 12:08 of the second period.
While they each were in the lineup Thursday, both opened the contest in different roles.
Rust, typically affixed to the right wing of the top line, started on the second line. Meanwhile, Rodrigues moved to the left wing of the fourth line after starting Tuesday’s game on the right wing of the third line.
Rodrigues remains the only member of the roster who has appeared in all of the Penguins’ 76 games this season.
In recent weeks, several Penguins players have missed games or practices because of an undisclosed illness. The team has not specified the nature of the ailment other than to note it is not related to covid-19.
“It’s just something that’s kind of going through the population everywhere it seems like,” Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson said. “It is what it is. It’s something that we just have to deal with it and try our best to wash our hands and things like that. It feels like we’ve been hearing a lot of stuff like that for a couple of years now. But it’s important. Especially coming down the last stretch here to have as many guys healthy and in the lineup as possible.”
Sullivan excited for Fenway
On Wednesday, the NHL announced 0.07% of its 2022-23 regular season schedule when it unveiled a poorly maintained secret:
The Penguins will face the Boston Bruins in Boston’s famed Fenway Park on Jan. 1, 2023, in the league’s Winter Classic.
In addition to the Penguins’ new ownership entity, Fenway Sports Group, also owning the baseball park of the same name, there is another connection between the team and the venue.
The coach.
A native of Boston, Sullivan is a die-hard Red Sox fan.
“I have all kinds of memories of going to Fenway Park,” said Sullivan, a native of Marshfield, Mass. “I’ve grown up being a huge baseball fan, as was my dad. We watched the Red Sox all the time in my house. So to have an opportunity to participate in a hockey game at Fenway Park is a thrill of a lifetime. I can’t put it into words for how excited I am for that opportunity. It’s a special place. It’s really a unique ballpark. The history, I think, is well chronicled. It speaks for itself. Being a Boston kid, being born and raised there and being such a big Red Sox fan, for me, it would be a huge thrill.”
McGinn returns
Penguins forward Brock McGinn returned to the lineup in Tuesday’s loss to the Islanders. Logging 16:01 of ice time on 22 shifts, McGinn had no shots and blocked one shot.
Despite being one of the team’s top penalty killers, he recorded only eight seconds of short-handed ice time in that game.
Sullivan explained McGinn’s limited deployment on the penalty kill on Tuesday.
“Part of it had to do with putting faceoff (specialists) on the ice,” Sullivan said. “(McGinn) is an integral part of our penalty kill. I would anticipate him getting a whole lot more minutes moving forward. Knowing it was his first game back, we were a little bit conscious of his minutes and just trying to make sure that we don’t put him in situations where he doesn’t have an opportunity to be successful. I would anticipate him getting more penalty kill time as we move forward.”
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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