Pittsburgh Penguins Announce Starting Goalie and Major Injury Update Ahead of Ducks Clash
Blake Lizotte, a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins, may make his team debut on Thursday night when they play the Anaheim Ducks at home.
Lizotte's first season with the Penguins was delayed due to a freak accident that occurred near the end of the preseason. Lizotte suffered a concussion after being hit by an errant puck while on the bench during the Penguins' Kraft Hockeyville game against the Ottawa Senators on September 29.
«It's been a long few weeks, a month or so,» he said. «Being with a new team, it's exciting to have a chance to get in the action and be with the guys.»
Over the summer, Lizotte inked a two-year deal worth $1.85 million a year through 2025-2026 with the Penguins. He had been a member of the Los Angeles Kings for his whole playing career. He scored 37 goals and provided 69 assists in 320 games during parts of six seasons.
According to Lizotte, the Penguins are a better team than the standings have indicated in recent years, and everyone in the league is aware of their potential. Lizotte signed here in large part because of that potential, and he is eager to begin this next chapter.
Mike Sullivan Announces Lineups and Player Updates
Alex Nedeljkovic will start in goal on Thursday, according to coach Mike Sullivan. Nedeljkovic has a 0-2-1 record through three starts, a 3.94 goals-against average, and a .874 save percentage.
Forwards Due to their injuries, Matt Nieto and Bryan Rust are still in the same situation. Nieto, who has returned to skating with the team in practice, is still on long-term injured reserve while he heals from offseason knee surgery, while Rust is out week-to-week on injured reserve due to an undisclosed illness.
Earlier today, the Penguins assigned forward Vasily Ponomarev to the American Hockey League's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after activating him from the injured non-roster list.
The following lines were put out during morning skate:
10 Drew O'Connor - 20 Lars Eller - 48 Valtteri Puustinen
8 Michael Bunting - 19 Cody Glass - 55 Noel Acciari
13 Kevin Hayes - 46 Blake Lizotte - 72 Anthony Beauvillier
24 Matt Grzelcyk - 58 Kris Letang
28 Marcus Pettersson - 65 Erik Karlsson
27 Ryan Graves - 3 Jack St. Ivany
First power play: Crosby, Malkin, Karlsson, Letang, Rakell
Second power play: Grzelcyk, Eller, Bunting, Hayes, Puustinen
NHL Highlights: Canucks 4, Penguins 3
With a 3-1 victory over the Islanders on Tuesday, the Ducks snapped a short two-game losing streak. Meanwhile, the Pens are currently six games without a victory and have given up 27 goals (4.5 goals per game) during that time.
Pittsburgh has defeated Anaheim 7-2-0 in seven of its previous nine meetings going into tonight's matchup. Additionally, since November 18, 2013, the Penguins have lost 14 of their last 20 games against them, going 14-6-0. In their last four home games against the Ducks, the Penguins have won three of them (3-1-0).
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 31 | 36 ANSWERS Pittsburgh Penguins Announce Starting Goalie and Major Injury Update Ahead of Ducks Clash Will Blake Lizotte play tonight vs the Anaheim Ducks? | ||
| Yes | 22 | 61.1 % |
| No | 14 | 38.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
