The Pittsburgh Penguins will play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

The Pittsburgh Penguins made an emergency recall for Alex Nylander ahead of their matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it wasn’t immediately clear why he was being called up.

Since Nylander was called up on an emergency basis, that meant that the Penguins were unable to reach 12 healthy forwards.

As the team took the ice for warmups, both Bryan Rust and Mikael Granlund were not present.

The absence of Rust and Granlund made it clear why Nylander was recalled from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

According to the Penguins in their official lineup announcement, Granlund is missing due to illness and Rust is out for personal reasons.

Thanks to their absences, the Penguins will play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Nylander is making his Penguins debut and slotting in on the third line with Drew O’Connor and Jeff Carter.

Dmitry Kulikov is making his Penguins debut on the third pairing with Jan Rutta; P.O. Joseph is listed as the extra defenseman.

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