The hits keep coming to the Penguins' blue line.
Brian Dumoulin was injured at the end of the second period of the Penguins' 3-2 overtime loss to the Bruins on Tuesday night. He dropped awkwardly in front of the net in the final seconds of the period, and was slow to get up from the ice. He did not return for the third period:
Mike Sullivan said after the game that Dumoulin was still being evaluated for a lower-body injury.
Pierre-Olivier Joseph filled in on the top pairing next to Kris Letang in Dumoulin's absence during the third period.
Dumoulin's injury is the latest blow to an already ailing defense corps, especially to the left-hand side.
Mike Matheson suffered an upper-body injury on Jan. 15 and is out "longer-term." He began skating with the team on Tuesday in a non-contact jersey, but Sullivan said after the skate that his status hasn't changed. Juuso Riikola (longer-term) and Marcus Pettersson (week-to-week) both sustained upper-body injuries on Jan. 19. The lone right-handed defenseman of the injured group, Zach Trotman, was likely going to be on the Penguins' taxi squad before undergoing right knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Jan. 14, receiving a 4-6 week recovery estimate.
"It's tough when you go down that many players at the same position," Sullivan said Tuesday. "It's certainly a test of your depth. I think guys are stepping up. We're asking guys to play more significant minutes and more significant roles, and these guys are competing. I give them a lot of credit, they're playing hard back there."
Entering Tuesday's game, the remaining healthy defensemen lined up like this:
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
John Marino-Cody Ceci
Pierre-Olivier Joseph-Chad Ruhwedel
The lone defenseman left on the Penguins' taxi squad is the left-handed Kevin Czuczman (pronounced CHURCH-man, believe it or not), who figures to step into the lineup if Dumoulin is unable to play on Thursday in the second game of the series against Boston. If Czuczman plays, it would be his first NHL game action since the 13 games he played for the Islanders in the 2013-14 season.
Czuczman practiced with the team on Monday before the team left for Boston, and rotated with the above pairings in the line rushes.
Czuczman, 30, has been a reliable puck-moving defensemen and veteran presence on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's blue line for the last three seasons. He received a call up to Pittsburgh last season as an extra defenseman and practiced with the team, but was never needed for a game. When in Wilkes-Barre last season, he primarily played on the right side of a pairing with Niclas Almari.
Czuczman was originally an undrafted free agent signing by the Islanders out of Lake Superior state in 2014, and played his 13 career NHL games when he joined the team that spring following the conclusion of his college career. He spent the next six seasons in the AHL -- two seasons with the Islanders' affiliate in Bridgeport, one in Manitoba, and three in Wilkes-Barre.
Over the last thee seasons in Wilkes-Barre Czuczman has played in 174 games, scored 10 goals and recorded 66 assists.
Sullivan spoke highly of Czuczman after Monday's morning skate.
"Czucz is an unbelievable human," Sullivan said. "He's a great teammate, he brings us so much enthusiasm to his job every day. He loves being part of the Penguins organization. He's a great leader for us in Wilkes-Barre, and he works at his game. He's picked up a step from a mobility standpoint. He can play the left side, he can play the right side, so he's a versatile defenseman and we can plug him in different ways.
"But as far as the type of person and the character, I can't say enough about the type of guy that he is. We're thrilled to have him as part of our organization, as part of our extended depth group with our defense corps. Whatever role we give him he embraces, and he's excited about it."
For the first time in seven seasons, there's a chance that that role might once again be that of an NHL defenseman