FOLIGNO BACK FOR BLUE JACKETS
The Columbus Blue Jackets will get a boost upfront tonight with the return of winger Nick Foligno. An excellent two-way player, Foligno had 18 goals in the regular season, including 15 even strength goals. He can skate and plays a physical game.
Foligno will skate on the Blue Jackets third line with R.J. Umberger and Artem Anisimov. That’s a line with a lot of size and two-way ability.
A big loss for the Blue Jackets, though, will be top-4 defenseman Fedor Tyutin who will not play. David Savard will move into a top pairing role tonight with Jack Johnson. Johnson has had an excellent series as the Penguins look to get more physical with him.
The Penguins weren’t able to take advantage of the Blue Jackets playing with mostly 5 defensemen in Game 2 after Tyutin went down.
Dalton Prout moves into the lineup with Tyutin out.
CONNER RECALLED
The Penguins, as anticipated, have recalled Chris Conner from his conditioning assignment. Conner could work his way into the lineup. He was pointless in two games with Wilkes Barre.
The Penguins coaches felt Brandon Sutter played some of his best hockey this season when Conner was playing with him.