Many Penguins will miss the final three games of the regular season.
Here are your Pens Points for this Friday morning…
The injury bug is appearing at the tail end of the season to give the Pittsburgh Penguins some unwanted news. Noel Acciari, Blake Lizotte, Rutger McGroarty, Matt Nieto, and Tommy Novak will all miss the remainder of the regular season with injuries, prompting the Penguins to make several emergency recalls and shuffle the forward lines around. [PensBurgh]
Valtteri Puustinen and Vasily Ponomarev, two of those emergency recalls, are getting a quick taste of NHL action before returning to the AHL Penguins for the Calder Cup playoffs, something they are excited for. [Trib Live]
Kyle Dubas will once again oversee an international roster as the general manager for Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championships. [KDKA]
Former Penguins general manager Ray Shero’s sudden death on Wednesday prompted an outpouring of condolences from many around the hockey world, including from our own Gretz, who penned a personal story detailing how Ray Shero’s guidance in the early years of the Crosby-Malkin era was crucial to steering the Penguins into championship glory with an aggressive mindset that helped define how the Penguins’ front office operated for the better part of 20 years. [PensBurgh]
ICYMI: The Pittsburgh stars were out at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday night for Plum native Pat McAfee’s ‘Big Night Aht’ event, which included appearances from Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, among many others. [PensBurgh]
News and notes from around the NHL…
FUTURE PENGUIN? (I say, only kidding… maybe?) Brock Boeser said he doesn’t expect to return to the Vancouver Canucks next season. [NHL]
Will any player be able to challenge Wayne Gretzky—err—Alex Ovechkin’s goals record? [Sportsnet]