Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Sam Girard was absent from a practice session in Cranberry on Friday as he was being evaluated for an undisclosed injury.
According to coach Dan Muse, Girard will travel with the team for a road contest against the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, the left-handed Girard made his Penguins debut on Thursday in a 4-1 home win against the New Jersey Devils.
Opening the contest on the left side of the second pairing with right-hander Kris Letang, Girard logged 17:53 of ice time on 18 shifts and had a team-leading four blocked shots.
Girard completed the game without any apparent issues that would suggest he was injured and even spoke with reporters following the contest.
“Obviously, it wasn’t my best game, but just got to adjust to a new system, new teammates — everything is kind of new,” Girard said. “But I think it was a pretty good first game.”
The Penguins traded for Girard and a second-round draft pick in 2028, sending defenseman Brett Kulak to the Avalanche in return.
In 41 games this season, Girard has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) while averaging 17:41 of ice time per contest.
Notes:
• With Girard absent for practice, Ryan Shea replaced him on the second pairing, while forward Kevin Hayes replaced Shea on the third pairing.
The team’s lines and pairs were:
59 Egor Chinakhov – 18 Tommy Novak – 71 Evgeni Malkin
85 Avery Hayes – 67 Rickard Rakell – 17 Bryan Rust
39 Anthony Mantha – 81 Ben Kindel – 16 Justin Brazeau
19 Connor Dewar – 46 Blake Lizotte – 55 Noel Acciari
28 Parker Wotherspoon – 65 Erik Karlsson
5 Ryan Shea – 58 Kris Letang
13 Kevin Hayes – 75 Connor Clifton
27 Ryan Graves – 7 Ilya Solovyov
• The top power-play unit included Karlsson, Malkin, Mantha, Rakell and Rust. The second unit involved Brazeau, Chinakhov, Kindel, Letang and Novak.
