Thanks to multiple injuries, the Pittsburgh Penguins were forced to put a forward on the blue line.
The Pittsburgh Penguins snapped their losing streak with a win over the Washington Capitals while narrowly avoiding disaster.
Defensemen Jan Rutta and P.O. Jospeh both left the game early and forced the Penguins to finish the game with just four defenders.
While the defense was stepping up and shutting down the attacking Capitals, there was a moment where things looked like they were about to get tougher on the back end.
Jeff Petry attempted to lay a hit on Nicolas Aube-Kubel but it was Petry that took the brunt of the connection.
Following the hit, Petry hobbled off the ice with clear discomfort in his knee; there wasn’t any direct contact with the knee but Petry was in clear pain.
Petry went down the runway to the locker room forcing the Penguins to play with just three defensemen.
In need of a fill-in, head coach Mike Sullivan asked if any of his forwards would be able to step up and play the blue line.
“We were trying to figure out which forward could skate backwards,” Sullivan said.
The veteran Jeff Carter was the forward to be thrown over the boards as the temporary replacement before Petry surprisingly returned to the ice.
Using Carter on defense is less than ideal, but the rest of his teammates admired the move.
“I was worried there for a second,” Marcus Pettersson said after a nervous laughter. “Luckily he [Petry] came back and Carts stepped up big time.”
Pettersson had been Petry’s linemate all season until the game in Washington when he was promoted to the first line with Kris Letang.
In goal for the Penguins was Casey DeSmith who was looking for his first win of the season and have full belief in Carter as a defenseman.
“Couldn’t have more confidence in Carts.”
It was a goofy win, but the Penguins got contributions from all over the lineup as they finally snap their losing streak and look to build momentum back in their favor.
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