As the Pittsburgh Penguins start to slowly get players back to their blue line, Ty Smith takes a healthy scratch.
As the Pittsburgh Penguins get a couple of key faces back into the lineup, defenseman Ty Smith became the odd man out and was scratched from the lineup.
In the second half of a home-and-home battle with the Ottawa Senators, goalie Tristan Jarry and defenseman Jeff Petry are returning to the Penguins lineup.
It’s Petry’s return that pushes Smith out of the lineup; Chad Ruhwedel and Mark Friedman remain in place on the blue line.
Smith has played a large role on the Penguins in both Petry and Kris Letang’s absence.
Without Petry or Letang, Smith had taken over as the defender on the top power play unit with P.O. Joseph continuing to man the second.
Petry slots back into the lineup as the top line defender with Marcus Pettersson by his side.
It is likely Petry will also take over as the defenseman on the first power play unit.
Defenseman Jan Rutta was placed on injured reserve earlier by the Penguins with a retroactive date of January 14.
Smith has played in nine games with the Penguins this season scoring a goal and three assists for four points.
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