The Penguins look to get back in the win column with some help from the return of their top defenseman

The Pittsburgh Penguins made some moves prior to their Sunday tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, NC.

The team announced that forward Philip Tomasino was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and will be out week-to-week. In addition, defenseman Kris Letang - who was injured Dec. 28 in a 6-3 loss against the New York Islanders - was activated from IR and will be a "game-time decision," per head coach Mike Sullivan.

Tomasino was injured during the third period of Pittsburgh's 3-2 shootout loss on Friday against the Florida Panthers. After going into the boards awkwardly during a collision with Florida defenseman Nate Schmidt, he was helped off the ice and did not return to the game. 

At 17-17-6, the Penguins will welcome Letang back to their blue line, which had been depleted for a large part of the last few weeks. They had been especially short on their right side and had two left-side defensemen - Owen Pickering and P.O Joseph - playing on their off-side. 

With Letang back in the mix, this is how the Penguins will line up against the Hurricanes:

Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic will get the start against his former team, who drafted him 37th overall in 2014. Nedeljkovic spent parts of four seasons with the Hurricanes, and in his final season in 2020-21, he went 15-5 with a 1.90 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage - which was a career-best season for him.

Carolina is 5-4-1 in its last 10 games, and they are in the second game of a back-to-back after a 4-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. The Hurricanes sit third in the Metropolitan Division with 48 points, and the Penguins can come to within six points of their division rival with a win on Sunday. Pittsburgh is 0-2 against the Hurricanes this season and have been outscored, 9-2.

A win will also put Pittsburgh - who is 1-2-1 since the holiday break - in a tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, pending the results of the contest between the Lightning and the Anaheim Ducks at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday. 

The Lightning will still have four games in hand on Pittsburgh following Sunday's games.