Rookie defenseman Ilya Solovyov is expected to make his debut for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Thursday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks at PPG Paints Arena.
During a morning skate in Cranberry, Solovyov skated on the left side of the third pairing with Ryan Shea as his partner.
The Penguins acquired the left-handed Solovyov in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 20. Since then, he has been a healthy scratch for three consecutive games.
“I’m really excited. I can’t wait to step on the ice with this group of guys. It’s unbelievable. I haven’t played in (more than) a week. You’ve got to expect that it’s going to be a little bit harder for me (the) first few minutes. But I’ve got to be dialed in and bring everything on the board.”
His most recent game came Jan. 19 as a member of the Avalanche. In 16 games with the Avalanche this season, he has posted three points (one goal, two assists) while averaging 11:34 of ice time.
Should Solovyov indeed be in the lineup, he will be the 11th rookie to appear in a game for the Penguins this season.
He would join:
Forwards – Tristan Broz, Filip Hallander, Ben Kindel, Ville Koivunen, Rutger McGroarty, Sam Poulin
Defensemen – Harrison Brunicke, Owen Pickering
Goaltenders – Sergei Murashov, Arturs Silovs
The franchise mark of 18 rookies in a season was set by the 1987-88 club:
Forwards – Brad Aitken, Rob Brown, Jock Callender, Perry Ganchar, Lee Giffin, Steve Gotaas, Mark Kachowski, Dwight Mathiasen, Dave McLlwain, Kevin Stevens, Wayne Van Dorp
Defensemen – Chris Dahlquist, Dave Goertz, Chris Joseph, Patrick Mayer, Zarley Zalapski
Goaltenders – Steve Guenette, Frank Pietrangelo
Notes:
• Silovs is scheduled to start Thursday’s game, according to coach Dan Muse.
In 23 games this season, Silovs has a 9-6-8 record, a 3.00 goals-against average, a .892 save percentage and one shutout.
Silovs led the Penguins to a 7-3 road win against the Blackhawks on Dec. 28. He made 21 saves on 24 shots in that contest.
• The Penguins recalled rookie forward Rutger McGroarty from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League and designated defenseman Jack St. Ivany (left hand) to injured reserve.
• The Penguins’ lines and pairings during their morning skate were:
67 Rickard Rakell – 87 Sidney Crosby – 16 Justin Brazeau
59 Egor Chinakhov – 18 Tommy Novak – 71 Evgeni Malkin
2 Rutger McGroarty – 81 Ben Kindel –39 Anthony Mantha
19 Connor Dewar – 46 Blake Lizotte – 55 Noel Acciari
28 Parker Wotherspoon – 65 Erik Karlsson
77 Brett Kulak – 58 Kris Letang
7 Ilya Solovyov – 5 Ryan Shea
13 Kevin Hayes – 75 Connor Clifton
• The top power-play unit included Chinakhov, Crosby, Karlsson, Malkin and Rakell. The second unit involved Brazeau, Kindel, Letang, Mantha and Novak.
• Penguins forward Bryan Rust will be serving the first game of a three-game suspension. During the Penguins’ 3-2 road win against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, Rust was penalized for an illegal check to the head of Canucks forward Brock Boeser.
With Rust unavailable, Brazeau is replacing him on the top line, while Chinakhov took his place on the top power-play unit.
• Karlsson has 699 career assists.
• Letang had 797 career points.
• Rakell has 297 career assists.
• The Penguins enter Thursday’s contest with a four-game winning streak.
• The Blackhawks are expected to start goaltender Arvid Soderblom. In 16 games this season, Soderblom has a 5-8-2 record, a 3.75 goals-against average and an .874 save percentage.
Throughout his career, Soderblom has played the Penguins in three contests, posting a 0-2-0 record, a 4.12 goals- against average and an .846 save percentage.
• According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Blackhawks’ lines and pairings during their morning skate at PPG Paints Arena were:
91 Frank Nazar – 98 Connor Bedard – 86 Teuvo Teravainen
20 Ryan Greene – 11 Oliver Moore – 28 Andre Burakovsky
59 Tyler Bertuzzi – 16 Jason Dickinson – 95 Ilya Mikheyev
8 Ryan Donato – 17 Nick Foligno – 34 Colton Dach
72 Alex Vlasic – 46 Louis Crevier
44 Wyatt Kaiser – 55 Artyom Levshunov
48 Matt Grzelcyk – 5 Connor Murphy
• The scheduled referees are Eric Furlatt (No. 27) and Furman South (No. 13), while the linespersons are Jonny Murray (No. 95) and Shawn Oliver (No. 66).
