Defenseman Matt Niskanen, as expected, appears to be out for tonight’s game. Niskanen skated for the third straight day but once again not with the team. Niskanen dealing with a shoulder injury is absent from the morning skate but he did go through on-ice individual drills with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar this morning. Pittsburgh is rotating their pairs between Brooks Orpik, Kris Letang, Paul Martin, Zbynek Michalek, Deryk Engelland, Brian Strait and Ben Lovejoy is once again a full participant.