NHL Pre-Game Notes: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Winnipeg Jets
By Stephanie Lewark
@steelcitysports
Charles LeClaire – USA TODAY Sports
Tonight’s game between the Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1-0) and the Winnipeg Jets (1-1-1) will be broadcast on ROOT Sports – Pittsburgh and nationally on TSN. Face off is set for 8:00 pm (est). This will be the first time Tanner Glass returns to Winnipeg in a black and Vegas gold uniform to play against his former team. The Penguins acquired Glass from the Jets this past off-season. This will also be captain Sidney Crosby‘s first trip to Winnipeg with the team.
Line combinations from today’s morning skate were as follows:
FORWARDS: Chris Kunitz-Crosby-Pascal Dupuis, Tyler Kennedy-Evgeni Malkin-James Neal, Matt Cooke-Brandon Sutter-Glass, Eric Tangradi-Joe Vitale-Craig Adams, (Dustin Jeffrey);
DEFENSEMEN: Brooks Orpik-Paul Martin, Matt Niskanen-Kris Letang, Deryk Engelland-Ben Lovejoy, Robert Bortuzzo-Simon Despres; and the projected starting goalie in net for the Penguins tonight is Tomas Vokoun.
Yesterday, head coach Dan Bylsma shuffled lines around during practice moving Kennedy to the second line, Glass on the third line and Tangradi on the fourth, so it’s uncertain as to which lines will play tonight against the Jets. And it appears that Lovejoy will be in the lineup tonight being paired with Engelland while Despres is scratched.
Kunitz has been wearing the alternate captain “A” on his jersey for alternating home and road games along with Orpik.
WINNIPEG INJURY / LINE INFO
Jets defenseman, Zach Bogosian, and forward, Antti Miettinen, are both on injured reserve (IR) and out of the lineup for tonight’s game. Bogosian has a wrist injury and Miettinen has an upper-body injury.
And the team practiced with the following lines earlier today:
FORWARDS: Andrew Ladd-Nik Antropov-Bryan Little, Evander Kane-Olli Jokinen-Blake Wheeler, Alexei Ponikarovsky-Alexander Burmistrov-Kyle Wellwood, James Wright-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn;
DEFENSEMEN: Tobias Enstrom-Dustin Byfuglien, Mark Stuart-Ron Hainsey, Grant Clitsome-Paul Postma (Zach Redmond); and Ondrej Pavelec is the projected starting net minder for the Jets.
On a more personal note, Jets captain Andrew Ladd and his wife, Brandy, welcomed a baby boy into the world on Jan. 16 and named him Locklan Joseph Ladd. CONGRATULATIONS to the new parents!
Stephanie Lewark is a featured Pittsburgh Penguins columnist for www.RantSports.com. If you enjoy her articles / posts, you can follow her on Twitter (@steelcitysports), check out her personal Facebook page (via Networked Blogs), visit her personal Tumblr page, or stop by her Pinterest page.
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