Penguins/NHL
MEGNA TO MAKE NHL DEBUT VS ISLANDERS Second year pro Jayson Megna has made the type of jump in his development the Penguins always hope to see from players in their second year with the organization.
Megna off to a great start with Wilkes Barre, is second on the team in goals (3) and plus-minus (+8) through the first six games. Megna has five points on the season.
Megna is up with the team and skating on a line with Tanner Glass and Brandon Sutter today.
The Penguins feel Megna has a good mix of speed, size and skill to be a two-way bottom-six player at the NHL level. The Penguins also like his ability to win puck battles and we’ll get a good look at how he matches up against NHL competition Friday night vs the New York Islanders.
Giving a young player like Megna who could evolve into an NHL regular, a one or two game experiment is a smarter move than keeping a journeyman like Chris Conner up. Conner and Harry Zolnierczyk were re-assigned yesterday.
Beau Bennett will miss Fridays game and James Neal remains out indefinitely. Bennett is still not practicing with the team.
Matt D’Agostini comes off LTIR Saturday and is expected to play vs the Leafs. An ideal spot for him will be with Evgeni Malkin and Jussi Jokinen.
THURSDAY’S PRACTICE LINES
Kunitz – Crosby – Dupuis
Jokinen – Malkin – Kobasew
Glass – Sutter – Megna
Adams – Vitale – Engelland
Extra’s: Jeffrey, D’Agostini
