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Gorges On IR; Lieuwen Replaces Neuvirth |
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UPDATED:
The Pittsburgh Penguins received bad news earlier Wednesday when it was learned that veteran two-way winger Pascal Dupuis is suffering from blood clot issues and that his season is now done. He will be lost for at least six months as he undergoes blood thinner therapy to correct his serious health concern.
An understandably upset Dupuis met the Pittsburgh media on Wednesday.
Thanks, Penguins TV
Dupuis is a glue guy in the truest sense of the word. He can score you twenty goals, kills penalties and plays power play. What's more, he and Chris Kunitz compliment Sidney Crosby perfectly and have been a very productive trio when all three are healthy
Dupuis has batted injuries the past couple of seasons including an ACL injury. Its not known if the blood clot on his lung is a new injury. He will have to shut it down immediately to begin his treatment.
The Penguins family has been rocked by serious health ailments to its key players the past few seasons. They will have to overcome this adversity too.
Sidney Crosby suffered through two seasons with a concussion and head injuries. Tomas Vokoun was diagnosed with a blood clot in September, 2013. Letang suffered from a stroke in January. And just two weeks ago Olli Maatta had a cancerous tumor surgically removed from his neck.
Dupuis has to be selfish and think of himself and his family right now. Hockey is not, nor should be his priority. Its family first.
Crosby told Penguins.com:
“It’s tough. You hate to see anybody go through that, but a teammate and someone I’ve gotten to know over the years,” Crosby said. “You think about him as a dad, as a husband. That’s not easy to go through.”
Pens GM Jim Rutherford was looking for a veteran winger before the Dupuis season ending injury. He will have to find a trade partner to deliver him a scoring, two=way winger who can replace the 6 goals and 5 assists (16 games), 20 hits, 8 blocked shots, and 44 shots on goal that Dupuis has brought to the rink this season. As I've told you previously in this space, the Pens have scouted the Buffalo Sabres closely in the past month. Drew Stafford and Chris Stewart are pending UFAs.
Stafford may be a man on Rutherford's short list because of the winger's relationship with Sidney Crosby. Stafford and Crosby played together at Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school team that won the 2003 USA Hockey Tier I 17 & Under National Championship.
Stafford is tied for the Sabres team lead in points with 12 in 20 games played. He has scored 4 goals and has added 8 assists. His season started slowly and he failed to find the back of the net in his first ten games. He has created 8 points in his last 10 games.
Tim Murray and the NHL GMs met in Toronto on Tuesday. Have Rutherford and Murray chatted about Stafford?
TSN's Bob McKenzie said on NBC Sports Network that the Penguins will be looking to add a veteran scoring winger before the trade deadline to replace Dupuis.
Dupuis is a $3.75 million cap hit this season. Stafford is a $4 million cap hit.
According to capgeek.com, the Pens have $4,182,783 in cap space today.
At the trade deadline they will have $5,297,198 in cap space.
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Sabres D-man Josh Gorges was injured in the 6-3 loss at Minnesota last Thursday. Today, the team placed the NHL's shot blocking leader on IR. Gorges has blocked 60 shots in 17 games played. He also has leveled 27 hits.
Gorges injured a knee in the loss to the Wild last week. He's been replaced in the lineup by rookie Niklita Zadorov. It appears as though the injury is more a matter a weeks than it is days.
The Sabres have also announced that goalie Nathan Lieuwen has been recalled from the Rochester Americans.
The team also called up goalie Nathan Lieuwen from the Rochester Amerks.
The Sabres host the NY Rangers on Friday night.
Neuvirth was injured late in the first period of Tuesday night's 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. It appeared to me that Neuvirth sustained a lower body injury when he was involved with in a collision with San Jose forward Justin Braun and Sabres forward Tyler Ennis in a goal mouth scramble. Braun and Ennis collided with Neuvirth causing the puck to evade Neuvirth. The goal was disallowed by the officials when it was determined that Neuvirth was interfered with.
Lieuwen has struggled for most of the season in Rochester. In his 10 games played, he has posted a 3-4-0 record with a 3.53 GAA. Last season, Lieuwen ranked fourth in save percentage and tied for seventh in goals-against average among AHL netminders, respectively. He has appeared in 46 career AHL games, compiling a 21-17-4 record, a 2.59 goals-against average and a save percentage of .906.
The Kootenay Ice alum was drafted by Buffalo in the sixth round (167th overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
He played seven games in Buffalo last season and complied a 1-4-0 record with a 2.98 GAA and .906 save percentage.
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