Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner will be scratched for a game against the Florida Panthers at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday due to an apparent facial injury.
Shortly before warmups, the team announced Skinner’s status. While no substantive details as to Skinner’s status were offered, Skinner displayed a visible abrasion near his left eye following a 9-4 home win against the Panthers on Saturday.
Skinner dressed as the backup for that contest and was apparently injured while on the bench.
It was presumed Skinner was scheduled to start after rookie Arturs Silovs started Saturday’s 9-4 home win against the Panthers.
In 47 games this season, Skinner has a 22-16-9 record, a 2.91 goals against average, an .888 save percentage and two shutouts.
With Skinner unable to play, Silovs will start for the second consecutive day on Sunday. During Saturday’s win, Silovs made 19 saves on 23 shots.
In 36 games this season, Silovs has an 18-10-8 record, a 3.01 goals against average, an .889 save percentage and two shutouts.
With Skinner sidelined, the team recalled goaltender Taylor Gauthier from Wheeling of the ECHL as well as forward Avery Hayes from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Gauthier will dress as Silovs’ backup.
Notes:
• Penguins forward Rickard Rakell has a seven-game scoring streak (eight goals, three assists).
• Penguins forward Bryan Rust has 499 career points.
• The Panthers are scheduled to start goaltender Daniil Tarasov. In 28 games this season, Tarasov has a 10-14-2 record, a 3.15 goals against average, an .895 save percentage and two shutouts.
On Saturday, Tarasov, who was the Panthers’ goaltender of record, replaced starter Sergei Bobrovsky and made nine saves on 12 shots in 30:07 of ice time.
• Former Penguins defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is scheduled to rejoin the Panthers’ lineup after missing the previous two games due to a broken nose.
• Former Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues is designated to injured reserve for the Panthers due to a finger injury.
• The scheduled referees are Jake Brenk (No. 26) and Mitch Dunning (No. 20), while the linespersons are Mark Shewchyk (No. 92) and Dylan Blujus (No. 57).
