Penguins' injured players start vs. Capitals
The Penguins came into Game 3 of an Eastern Conference semifinals series with Washington on Monday night with injury question marks surrounding five lineup regulars.
All five played.
Patric Hornqvist was the most surprising entry in the lineup. He suffered a lower-body injury while blocking a John Carlson shot in Game 2 at Washington on Saturday night, did not return after leaving the ice in the first period and left the Verizon Center in a walking boot after the game.
Yet, there he was Monday, back in his familiar spot on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel.
Brian Dumoulin played despite missing practice Friday and morning skate Monday. Carl Hagelin was in the lineup for the second consecutive game after missing about six weeks with a lower-body injury.
Tom Kuhnhackl and Ron Hainsey played despite leaving in the third period of Game 2 on Saturday with apparent shot-blocking injuries.
Hainsey's injury was particularly horrifying, as he took an Alex Ovechkin shot to the head.
His most accomplished shot-blocking teammate, defenseman Ian Cole, said a high-rising Ovechkin shot might be one of the scarier sights in the game, but it wouldn't stop the team from stepping in front of pucks in the future.
“Maybe not as scary as a Shea Weber slapshot to the head, but he's got a very hard shot,” Cole said. “Pucks hit sticks, hit chunks of ice, hop up on edge. That happens. We're going to keep playing hard and continue to block shots.”
Shuffle up
While the Penguins dodged a few injury bullets Monday, they shook up their lines anyway.
Chris Kunitz was promoted to the second line, skating alongside Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.
Conor Sheary, Nick Bonino and Bryan Rust started on the third line. Hagelin was bumped down to the fourth line with Matt Cullen and Tom Kuhnhackl. Scott Wilson was scratched for the second straight game.
“You go out there, and you just try to work to your skill set,” Kunitz said. “The coaches put you in the best available spot that they can for each individual player. We have a deep lineup. We have guys that are out of the lineup that want to be in, too. We have to go out there and prove ourselves every single night. We know our coach isn't set to anything. We always have to be out there learning and adapting on the fly.”
Crosby nominated
Crosby is one of the three finalists for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, the league announced Monday. Edmonton center Connor McDavid and Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky are the other contenders.
McDavid, who led the league with 100 points and led the Oilers to the playoffs for the first time since 2006, is considered the odds-on favorite, a 1-5 choice according to the latest numbers from Bovada.lv.
Crosby, who led the league with 44 goals, is the second choice at 3-1.
Murray update
Goalie Matt Murray, out since suffering a lower-body injury in warm-ups before the playoff opener, resumed skating on his own without his goaltending equipment, coach Mike Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the next step for Murray is skating in full gear.
Taxi squad
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was eliminated from the AHL playoffs with a 2-1 loss to Providence in Game 5 of a best-of-five first-round series Sunday. According to The Citizens' Voice, a large practice squad contingent will join the Penguins.
The group includes goalies Sean Maguire and Casey DeSmith; defensemen Cameron Gaunce, Derrick Pouliot, David Warsofsky and Frankie Corrado; and forwards Tom Sestito, Josh Archibald, Oskar Sundqvist, Dominik Simon, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Kevin Porter and Garrett Wilson.
Daniel Sprong, whose junior season ended Saturday, also could join the practice squad.
Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.
