The Pittsburgh Penguins took to the ice for practice in Dallas on Saturday, and it appears that two players may be poised for a return to the lineup when they face the Stars on Sunday.
Forwards Justin Brazeau and Noel Acciari – who missed all of November with upper-body injuries – took line rushes with the team at practice. In addition, the Penguins re-assigned forward Joona Koppanen to their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS).
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It’s safe to say that the Penguins have been missing both players in their everyday lineup, so getting either player back for Sunday’s game would be a welcome sight. With the return of Brazeau, the Penguins would be getting back one of their two injured top-six players – which should help matters with scoring, as Brazeau has six goals and 12 points in 12 games this season.
Brazeau reunited with Evgeni Malkin and Anthony Mantha on the “mutant line,” while Acciari slotted back in on the fourth line.
Here were the lines and pairings at Saturday’s practice, which shifted around a bit with Brazeau and Acciari back in the mix:
Forwards
Novak-Crosby-Rust
Mantha-Hayes-Brazeau
McGroarty-Kindel-Koivunen
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
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Defensemen
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Shea-Letang
Graves-Dumba
(Imama-Clifton)
Penguins Place Big Forward On Waivers
– It is worth noting that even with Koppanen re-assigned to WBS, the Penguins will still have to make a roster move in order to activate both Brazeau and Acciari from injured reserve.
Boko Imama is the most obvious candidate, as he won’t need to pass through waivers since he has been with the team for less than 14 days. But another thing to keep in mind is that rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke’s conditioning loan will come to a close after he plays his fifth game with WBS on Saturday against the Hershey Bears, and he currently occupies a roster spot with the NHL roster.
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Obviously, the easiest thing would be to option Imama, especially as the Penguins will likely lend Brunicke to Team Canada for the World Junior Championship, assuming he is named to the preliminary roster. But it’s still something to keep in mind.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Earns Big Win Over Lehigh Valley On Friday
– Arturs Silovs has only started one of the Penguins’ last five games, in which he gave up four goals on 16 shots against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 29 and was pulled after the fourth.
It stands to reason that Silovs will, likely, get one of the Penguins’ next two starts, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Penguins have – at least, temporarily – decided on Tristan Jarry as their primary goaltender.
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The Penguins have won the four games that Jarry has started since he returned from IR, and they lost the sole game Silovs started. Silovs has given up eight goals in his last two starts after a very promising start to the season – and he was pulled in both appearances.
Revisiting The Jake Guentzel Trade Tree
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