Letang missed Thursday's game against the Islanders with a lower-body injury that he suffered late in Monday's game in Boston. Letang will miss at least a couple of weeks, which has become a trend throughout his career. Letang missed 17 games in 2018-19 and has missed 20.7 percent of the games over the last five seasons.
Letang was forced to exit Monday's game in Boston with a lower-body issue and will not play against the Islanders on Thursday. With Letang out, John Marino will move up to play on the top-pair with Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz will man the top power-play unit.
Acciari suffered an undisclosed injury vs. the Red Wings on Saturday and is day-to-day. Dominic Toninato will be recalled from Springfield (AHL) to replace Acciari.
Malkin has missed 11 games with a lower-body issue but will be back in his familiar second-line centre and PP1 role this afternoon. Malkin had one goal in two games before getting hurt.
Clifton has played in six straight games but head coach Bruce Cassidy will scratch him for Steven Kampfer on Saturday. Clifton has no points in 11 games this season.
Graves was a healthy scratch on Wednesday but will replace Mark Barberio on Friday night. Graves has one goal, one assist and a plus-5 rating in 11 games this season.
Malkin has missed the last 11 games with a lower-body injury but was on the ice during Friday's practice and has a chance to return on Saturday. Malkin, who has one goal in two games to start the season, remains a game-time decision so monitor his status on Saturday morning.
Malkin returned to the ice on Monday but will not play Tuesday vs. the Flyers. Instead, Malkin is hoping to be back in the lineup vs. the Oilers on Saturday. Continue to monitor Malkin’s status as the weekend approaches.
Rust has missed the first 11 games of the season but is eligible to come off of LTIR and make his season debut on Saturday. Rust skated on the second line with Nick Bjugstad and Patric Hornqvist in Friday's practice. He had 18 goals and 17 assists (35 points) in 72 games a season ago.
Hamaliuk was a second-round pick (No.55 overall) in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft. The 6-foot-4, 193 lbs. winger had 26 points (11G / 15A) in 31 WHL games last year but has opened this season with 10 points (5G / 5A) in 12 games with the Kelowna Rockets.
Jarry allowed just one goal on 22 shots in the Penguins loss to Vegas on Saturday. Jarry was great but Marc-Andre Fleury was sensational at the other end of the ice and dealt Jarry his first loss of the season. Jarry has allowed just three goals on 51 shots (.941 SV%) in two starts this year but has a rough matchup in Tampa Bay with his team on a back-to-back.
Tomasino was selected in the first-round (No.24 overall) in this summer's draft. The 18-year-old centre has had a tremendous start to the 2019-20 season, leading the Niagara IceDogs with 23 points (9G / 14A) in 12 games.
Jarry made 27 saves on 29 shots in the Penguins win in Winnipeg last Sunday. It was a great start to 2019-20 for Jarry, who gets the nod tonight vs. Marc-Andre Fleury and Vegas Golden Knights. Jarry had a .915 SV% in 47 AHL starts last year and a .907 SV% in 30 career NHL appearances. He’s a solid backup but not a great spot-start option against Vegas.
Clifton was a healthy scratch on Monday but will replace Steven Kampfer against the Lightning. Clifton has not registered a point while averaging 15:30 TOI/gm in five games this season.
Clifton has no points while playing 15:30 ATOI in the first five games of the season and will be replaced by Steve Kampfer, who is making his season debut. “Cliffy’s played well, but a message that nothing is guaranteed,” is what head coach Bruce Cassidy had to say about scratching the rookie defenseman.
Jarry won the Penguins backup job, perhaps because of a lower AAV than Casey DeSmith but he’s Matt Murray’s backup nonetheless. With Murray starting the first five games of the season, including last night, Jarry will make his season debut in Winnipeg. He was 23-23-3 with a 2.66 GAA and .915 SV% in the AHL last season and has a .906 career SV% in 29 NHL appearances.
Durability has always been a concern for Malkin, who has missed 20 percent of the games over the last six years, and now he is expected to miss a large chunk of 2019-20. With Nick Bjugstad also out “longer-term," the Penguins are going to lean heavily on Jared McCann and Teddy Blueger to stabilize their second and third lines.
Karlsson missed the season opener in Vegas to be with his wife for the birth of their child but will play tonight vs. the Golden Knights. Karlsson will look to build off of a solid first season in San Jose—his 1.8 SH% is bound to bounce-back and a healthy season could result in 60-plus assists.
Karlsson was a late scratch from the Sharks season opener in Vegas. Karlsson had to attend to a personal affair and will be replaced by Tim Heed on the blueline and Kevin Labanc on the first power-play unit.
