Injury sidelines Penguins defenseman Dmitry Kulikov on 'week-to-week' basis
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Dmitry Kulikov will be sidelined on a week-to-week basis because of an undisclosed injury.
His status was announced by Penguins coach Mike Sullivan following a morning skate at PPG Paints Arena in advance of Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Kulikov was injured during the second period of Sunday’s 3-2 overtime home win against the New York Rangers after he was struck by a puck.
Acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on March 3, Kulikov has appeared in four games for the Penguins and has one assist while averaging 12:40 of ice time per contest.
Between the Penguins and the Ducks, Kulikov has played in 65 games this season and has 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) and has clocked an average of 19:44 of ice time per contest.
With Kulikov hobbled, fellow rookie defenseman P.O Joseph, a fellow left-hander, is the leading candidate to replace him in the lineup on the third defensive pairing alongside right-hander Jan Rutta.
A healthy scratch for the past three games, Joseph has appeared in 59 games this season and has 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) and has averaged 14:37 of ice time per contest.
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Notes:
• The Penguins are scheduled to start goaltender Tristan Jarry against the Canadiens. In 35 games this season, Jarry has a 20-7-6 record, a 2.86 goals against average, a .913 save percentage and one shutout.
Jarry last faced the Canadiens in a 5-4 overtime road loss on Nov. 12 at the Bell Centre. He made 37 of 42 saves in that contest.
• Penguins forward Ryan Poehling participated in the morning skate in a full capacity with contact (though, contact is usually minimal in a morning skate). Sullivan professed optimism that Poehling is close to returning to the lineup after being sidelined for the past 14 games due to an undisclosed injury.
Poehling is currently designated to long-term injured reserve and was ruled out for Tuesday’s game.
“He participated this morning in a full capacity,” Sullivan said. “He’s had a couple of those now. That obviously represents significant progress. That’s the last hurdle before his return to play. He’s had a couple of good practices here. We’ll see how he responds. He will not play tonight. But we feel like he’s getting a whole lot closer.”
• The Penguins’ lines and pairs at the morning skate were:
59 Jake Guentzel – 87 Sidney Crosby – 17 Bryan Rust
16 Jason Zucker – 71 Evgeni Malkin – 19 Alex Nylander
10 Drew O’Connor – 64 Mikael Granlund – 67 Rickard Rakell
43 Danton Heinen – 77 Jeff Carter – 15 Josh Archibald
28 Marcus Pettersson – 58 Kris Letang
8 Brian Dumoulin – 26 Jeff Petry
73 P.O Joseph – 44 Jan Rutta
• The top power-play unit included Crosby, Guentzel, Letang, Malkin and Rakell. The second power-play unit involved Carter, Granlund, Petry, Rust and Zucker.
• Heinen has appeared in 399 career games.
• Guentzel has 399 career points.
• The Canadiens are scheduled to start goaltender Sam Montembeault. In 29 games this season, Montembeault has a 12-13-3 record, a 3.28 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.
Montembeault last faced the Penguins in a 3-2 home overtime win on Oct. 17 at the Bell Centre. He made 26 saves on 28 shots in that contest.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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