Penguins/NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bill Guerin will play tonight as the 39 year old forward did participate in the Penguins morning skate. Guerin did not practice on Wednesday after being hit in the ankle with a Chris Pronger slap shot in Tuesday’s 6-1 win.
Max Talbot is expected to be a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game I’m told. Talbot was the extra forward in line rushes.
Pittsburgh had a little scare in the morning skate as Craig Adams collided with Eric Godard just minutes ago. Adams was down for a bit but appears to be okay I’m told.
Morning Buzz
Jordan Staal skated for the second consecutive day after hurting his left rib near the end of Tuesday’s game. Staal appears to be fine as the talented centerman has three goals in two games against Philadelphia this season and is tied with Evgeni Malkin for second on the team with 10 goals.*There has been much talk surrounding Max Talbot being a healthy scratch. It really caught Talbot by surprise as Tuesday morning he talked like a player who was going to be in the lineup Tuesday night.
However, there were strong indications Saturday morning from a team source that Talbot was going to be the odd-man out when Godard is in the lineup. Even on Saturday it appeared the coaching staff was leaning towards playing Godard over Talbot.
I’ve been told the coaching staff doesn’t want Talbot playing center for the time being due to his shoulder surgery and they also don’t want him dropping the gloves. However, he is not injured and the reason he’s sitting is that it’s a numbers game.
The only other player you can make an argument to sit is Craig Adams but with Pittsburgh wanting Rupp and Talbot to play wing, Adams is safe. Prior to Tuesday night, Fedotenko should have been a candidate to sit based on performance, but that’s not going to happen for a number of reasons.
*Marc Andre Fleury will be vying for his 20th win of the season tonight. Members of Team Canada are expected to be in attendance.
