Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin scratched from Game 2

NEW YORK — Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin was scratched from Game 2 of his team’s first-round postseason series against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Before the contest opened, the team announced Dumoulin was “day to day” because of an undisclosed injury he presumably suffered during Game 1 of the series, a 4-3 win by the Penguins that required an exhausting three overtime periods Tuesday.

This was the first postseason game Dumoulin had missed in his career. Before Thursday, he had appeared in 81 consecutive playoff contests.

Dumoulin, typically affixed to the Penguins’ top defensive pairing, was replaced in that capacity by Mike Matheson while defenseman Mark Friedman entered the lineup.

A healthy scratch for the final seven games of the regular season and Game 1 on Tuesday, Friedman, making his NHL postseason debut, opened Game 2 on the third pairing with Chad Ruhwedel.

Penguins forward Rickard Rakell (head) and goaltender Casey DeSmith (suspected groin) were scratched as a result of injuries they suffered in Game 1.

Also scratched was Penguins forward Jason Zucker, who has not played since April 26 because of an undisclosed injury. Zucker did not play despite participating in warmups.

With Rakell and Zucker each absent, rookie forward Drew O’Connor made his postseason debut, opening the contest on the fourth line.

Game 1 extracted a heavy toll on both sides as the Rangers scratched defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Barclay Goodrow because of undisclosed ailments.

Lindgren typically mans the left side of the Rangers’ top pairing, and Goodrow usually is deployed on the team’s fourth line.

They were replaced by defenseman Justin Braun and forward Dryden Hunt, respectively.

Nathan Beaulieu activated

AP

The Penguins acquired defenseman Nathan Beaulieu in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on March 21.

The Penguins activated defenseman Nathan Beaulieu from long-term injured reserve Thursday. He was a healthy scratch for Game 2.

Acquired from the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline on March 21, Beaulieu has yet to appear in a game for the Penguins. At the time of the transaction, Beaulieu was on long-term injured reserve with an undisclosed ailment he suffered in early March.

While on long-term injured reserve, a portion of a player’s salary cap hit does not count toward his team’s cap figure. But with the salary cap not enforced during the postseason, NHL teams are not required to be cap compliant.

That led the Penguins to acquire the 29-year-old as a reserve defenseman — who carries a salary cap hit of $1.25 million — exclusively for the postseason.

The left-handed Beaulieu appeared in 24 games this past regular season for the Jets and recorded four assists while averaging 10:46 of ice time per contest.

At 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, Beaulieu offers a physical element few others on the Penguins’ rosters can provide.

“Without a doubt, he’s a guy that will be an option for us we would anticipate here in the playoffs,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said as recently as Friday. “We think Nathan is a good solid defenseman. (He) brings a different dimension to our defense core than what we have. He brings a little bit of an abrasiveness, he’s a physical player, he can help us on the penalty kill, he’s a good shot blocker. He’s strong in the battle areas. So he brings a little bit of a different dimension than I think the makeup of the rest of our group.

“That’s something that we’ll take into consideration when we’re making lineup decisions. Without a doubt, he is an option for us. We’ll just have to see how it goes and we’ll make decisions game to game accordingly.”