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Good injury news and a goalie choice that sends a message |
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The Penguins and Devils are going to run it back after their bonanza of goals in Pittsburgh’s 7-6 victory the other night. The Penguins will look to continue to bank points and make a run at the division title, while the Devils were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
As is the norm, there are injury updates to report on and they are positive for a change. Kasperi Kapanen will be a game-time decision this evening after practicing at full yesterday and taking part in the morning skate today
Even if he doesn’t make it into the lineup this is a very good thing. He should be able to get enough game action to get his conditioning back up. It has been a weird season for Kapanen. He was delayed in joining the team due to VISA issues and had to gain his conditioning on the go. He will have to do it again now that practices are limited moving forward.
More good news
Does this mean he could make a return before the playoffs? It is too early in the process to know, but I would still assume he will miss the remainder of the regular season. If he returns before it is a bonus. The skating is obviously a positive and a step in the right direction.
There wasn’t an update on Evgeni Malkin, but he too has been skating. I believe he will still return before the end of the regular season and it is imperative to get his legs going again so he can regain the level of play which was on display right before his knee injury.
In what could be considered a mild surprise Tristan Jarry will get the start after his horrendous meltdown the other night
I’m actually good with this decision. I think it sends the right message and that message is we all know you screwed up, we know you understand you screwed up, now let’s move past it and go have a solid performance. I think this expedites the process of working through the meltdown instead of letting it stew and potentially get in his head. He has played well overall since the poor start and many of his recent starts have been of high quality. Let him work through and it learn from the mishaps. Worst case scenario is you can go back to Casey Desmith next game which is fine.
Thanks for reading!
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