The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without key defenders in their last battle with the New York Rangers.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are ready to take on the New York Rangers for the final time in the 2022-23 regular season, but they will be without a couple of key players.
Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta are both absent from the Penguins lineup ahead of their final match in New York.
Recent emergency recall Mark Friedman will fill in on the blue line.
After leaving the previous two games early, Petry missed a practice in New York and head coach Mike Sullivan stated that he was still being evaluated for his injury.
Prior to the game against the Rangers, Sullivan stated Petry would be out of the lineup.
Rutta left the game against the Montreal Canadiens early after taking a puck to the knee and needing assistance to get off the ice.
Despite the obvious pain, Rutta didn’t miss any more time than the remainder of that contest.
With Friedman recalled on an emergency basis, it was unclear what other defenseman would be unavailable.
Kris Letang also missed the practice in New York, but it was labeled as a maintenance day and Sullivan declared him available prior to puck drop.
With Petry and Rutta both out of the lineup, Friedman slides in alongside Brian Dumoulin on the second pairing and Chad Ruhwedel with P.O. Joseph on the third.
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