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Game Day: Penguins @ Senators - Meeting Buddy Robinson

April 5, 2016, 10:34 AM ET [17 Comments]
Jared Crozier
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


While the Penguins are ramping up for a playoff run, the Ottawa Senators will welcome another new fact to the lineup as they play their penultimate home game of the season.

Buddy Robinson, the big winger, was recalled yesterday and will make his debut tonight wearing number 55. Robinson has 13 goals and 22 points in 59 games this season, a bit of a drop in his pace from his first couple of pro seasons which has to be a little disappointing to the player and the franchise.

However, you can bet he will be amped to make his NHL debut, even if it is in a position where there isn't much on the line for the team. It appears as though he will skate on a line with Nick Paul and Chris Neil. Jean-Gabriel Pageau centered Zack Smith and Bobby Ryan while Mika Zibanejad was between Mike Hoffman and Ryan Dzinge and Curtis Lazar between Matt Puempel and Alex Chiasson at the morning skate.

Mark Stone didn't skate, meaning he is likely to miss his third straight game with the chest injury suffered on the Dustin Byfuglien hit in Winnipeg.

Ben Harpur was returned to Binghamton following Saturday's loss, meaning Mike Kostka will be back in the lineup. (NOTE: Marc Methot left practice early, so that may impact the lineup and whether or not another call to Bingo is made before the game tonight, woth only 6 defensemen available including Methot).

It looks like Andrew Hammond will get back to back starts following his loss in Philly.

The Penguins have put together a nice stretch as of late, and they have done so without Marc-Andre Fleury in recent games. Rookie Matt Murray has won 5 straight and is 7-2-1 in his 10 career starts. He started back to back games on the weekend after Fleury's injury, recorded his first career shutout and was named the NHL's third star of the week on Monday.

Sidney Crosby is back to his old self, with points in 19 of his past 20 games (8-18-26 in that span) and has climbed to 4th in NHL scoring, 3 points ahead of Ottawa's Erik Karlsson. It hasn't been Crosby alone, as Phil Kessel has woken up on a line with Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin. Kessel has 16 points in his last 16 games.

Kris Letang has made a late run for Norris consideration, with 15 points and a +10 rating in his last 16 games. Meanwhile Justin Schultz is giving the Edmonton organization an even worse reputation, if that were possible. Schultz was exposed (and much maligned) as an Oiler and had just 10 points with a -22 rating in 45 games, while in the 15 games he has played in Pittsburgh since the trade deadline deal he has 7 points and is a +10 with some insulation on a good team.

The Pens became the 4th team to reach 100 points with their dominant win over cross-state rival Philadelphia on Sunday, and look to put more space between themselves and the Rangers for home ice in what is shaping up to be a pretty solid first round matchup.

Crosby had a natural hat trick in a crazy 6-5 Penguins win the last time these teams met, in a game that had both teams holding the lead at various times and the Pens were down 4-3 before Crosby took over.
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