Pittsburgh Penguins Make Emergency Recall After Yet Another Injury Hits the Lineup
Photo credit: NHL.com
Now that Filip Hallander went down with an injury in practice yesterday, Pittsburgh's GM Kyle Dubas has recalled Joona Koppanen from the AHL Penguins.
Joona Koppanen was called up from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday morning. Koppanen is likely to serve as an emergency depth option for the Penguins ahead of Thursday's matchup with the Washington Capitals.
If the winger does end up playing, it may come at the expense of Ville Koivunen or Filip Hallander, now that he injured himself yesterday in practice.
Still, Koppanen's promotion gives the Penguins a 13th healthy forward on the 23-man roster, but it will become 12 if Hallander needs to sit.
In the minors this year, Koppanen has generated just one goal and one assist in six games.
Hallander suffered an undisclosed injury at practice on Wednesday, Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
The Penguins haven't officially ruled Filip Hallander out yet for tonight's game, but odds are that he won't play
Hallander's status for Thursday's home tilt versus Washington is up in the air, though this recall of Koppanen definitely signals that something is wrong.
Projected Penguins lines:
FORWARDS
Ben Kindel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha-Evgeni Malkin-Tommy Novak
Ville Koivunen-Danton Heinen-Philip Tomasino
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Filip Hallander/Kevin Hayes/Joona Koppanen
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Kris Letang
Ryan Graves-Connor Clifton
Matt Dumba-Harrison Brunicke
FORWARDS
Ben Kindel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha-Evgeni Malkin-Tommy Novak
Ville Koivunen-Danton Heinen-Philip Tomasino
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Filip Hallander/Kevin Hayes/Joona Koppanen
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Kris Letang
Ryan Graves-Connor Clifton
Matt Dumba-Harrison Brunicke
Hallander has one goal and three assists in 13 games this season, averaging 13:09 of ice time for the Penguins.
The team is hoping that Koppanen will be able to fill in for him, should he miss time. Puck drop is set for 7:30 PM ET tonight vs. Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals.
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