The Penguins take to the road tonight for a visit to Detroit. Defenseman Mark Friedman did not practice yesterday after blocking a shot in Tuesday’s game against Buffalo. Coach Mike Sullivan said Friedman had a “maintenance day.”
For the game tonight, the Penguins recalled defensemen Niclas Almari and Taylor Fedun from Wilkes Barre/Scranton, along with forwards Jonathan Gruden and Valtteri Puustinen. Among those not in the lineup tonight will be Jeff Carter, Kasperi Kapanen, Bryan Rust, Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin, Teddy Bleuger, and Tristan Jarry.
Coach Mike Sullivan says the two final preseason games, tonight against Detroit and Saturday at Columbus, will be a final chance to look at some prospects, but will also help the team transition to preparations for the season opener on Tuesday at Tampa Bay.
Sullivan says the Penguins’ rather quirky schedule, with two games in Florida next week followed by eight straight home games taking them into November, will give the team a lot of ice time to make early-season adjustments.
Defenseman Brian Dumoulin says one of the top priorities for the Penguins in the preseason has been repairing the penalty kill, which was not good last season.
The Penguins were 27th in the NHL last year in penalty killing, with a success rate of only 77.4 percent.
The Penguins have announced that they will honor Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange before the October 19th game against Dallas. Lange retired from play-by-play this summer after 46 years behind the microphone. He will still be a part of the Penguins broadcast team, but in a limited role. Fans at the October 19th game will be given a placard with one of Lange’s famous catchphrases, and he says he will be “smiling like a butcher’s dog” as he shares the night with his fellow Penguins fans.
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