NEW YORK -- Following Monday's morning skate, Kris Letang could be readily found outside the visitor's dressing room at Madison Square Garden working with a trainer. First, he was seen riding a stationary bike. Then, he went through an assortment of stretches with various rubber bands.
The one place the Penguins defenseman couldn't be found was on the ice at the "World's Most Famous Arena." Mike Sullivan later confirmed that Letang is out for tonight's game against the Rangers with an upper-body injury and that he is listed as "day-to-day."
That, of course, was the same generalization and timeline that was offered after Letang suffered an injury during the Feb. 23 Stadium Series game in Philadelphia. Letang was then sidelined for 24 days, missing 11 games and likely ending his Norris Trophy candidacy. He made his return last Tuesday night in Carolina at the start of this four-game road trip which concludes tonight in Manhattan. In his three games since returning, Letang had a point in each game, posting a goal and two assists while the Penguins have gone 2-0-1. It is unclear how Letang was injured in Saturday night's win over the Stars in Dallas, but when I asked Sullivan if the star defenseman's latest injury was related to his previous one, the coach declined.
"I'm not going to elaborate on the injury at this time," he said.
Olli Maatta, out since Feb. 11 with an upper body injury, practiced yet again on Monday but he will not make his return tonight. Sullivan said that Maatta is simply "not ready."
That means that Zach Trotman will draw back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous three games. During Monday's skate, Trotman was reunited with Brian Dumoulin, on the top pair. He also worked with Marcus Pettersson on the second power play unit.
"We have capable guys who can go in the lineup," Sullivan said. "Zach Trotman has played extremely well for us. We have some depth at the defense position right now. I think that's one of of the strengths of our team and we're going to have to rely on it."
Strangely enough, when this road trip started, the biggest storyline was what the Penguins would do with their surplus of blueliners once Maatta returned. At least for the short term, Letang's injury delays that question.
During Letang's recent absence, the Penguins didn't skip too many beats with Trotman in the lineup. They averaged 2.28 goals-against per game while going 7-2-2.
"I don't really think of it as playing in place of him," Trotman was telling me Monday of filling in for Letang. "Obviously, there's very few guys -- if any -- like that who you can replace. I just try to do my job and play the game to the best of my ability. That's why they have me here. If I can do that and take care of my end defensively and contribute some offense, I can help and put us in a good spot to win games."
BRADFORD'S VIEW
I'm not a doctor and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But, judging from what I saw of Letang on Monday, this latest injury doesn't appear to be too serious in nature. "Day-to-day" would seem a realistic prognosis.
Besides, with six games remaining on the schedule beginning with tonight's game against the Rangers, a non-playoff team, there's really no need to rush Letang back at this point when they have full confidence in Trotman.
The 28-year-old proved he can play at this level while Letang was out. Though he's not going to make anyone forget about Letang offensively, Trotman is stout in his own end and had good chemistry with Dumoulin, another defensive-minded defenseman, in forming a formidable shutdown pair.
• Sans Letang, the lines and pairs remained intact:
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
McCann-Blueger-Kessel
Simon-Bjugstad-Hornqvist
Johnson-Cullen-Wilson
Dumoulin-Trotman
Johnson-Schultz
Pettersson-Gudbranson
(Maatta)
Murray
• Though this would have seemed a pretty good spot to get Casey DeSmith some playing time, Sullivan said that Matt Murray will indeed make his fifth straight start tonight. Murray has dominated New York in his career, going 5-0 with a .914 save percentage and 2.36 goals-against average. However, that nugget of information is not why Murray is getting the start.
"Right now, our No. 1 goal is to make the playoffs," Sullivan said. "That's what our sights are on. That's the main motivating factor that's driving our decision-making."
• After a travel day on Sunday, the Penguins held a full morning skate for about 20 minutes at the Garden. Letang was the only absence.
• The good news on the injury front is that Evgeni Malkin has resumed skating on his own back in Pittsburgh. He'll miss his fifth game with an apparent rib injury.
• Murray will be opposed by Alexandar Georgiev in goal for the Rangers. The Bulgarian is 11-12-3 this season, including 1-1-0 vs. the Penguins.
• The Rangers have injury and health issues of their own. They will be without Jesper Fast, Chris Kreider and Marc Staal tonight, according to David Quinn. Fast is being shutdown for the season. Kreider will miss his second game with an undisclosed injury and is day-to-day, as is Staal, who has been battling the flu.
• Quinn's lineup will shake out like this:
Lemieux-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
Vesey-Andersson-Strome
Namestnikov-Lettieri-Chytil
Nieves-Howden-Smith
Claesson-DeAngelo
Skjei-Shattenkirk
Gilmour-Pionk
Georgiev
