5 day forecast
Staal out for tonight's game vs. Devils
Share with others:
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said today that the extent of the left knee injury center Jordan Staal sustained Friday night in a collision with the Rangers' Mike Rupp has not been determined, but Staal is certainly out for tonight when New Jersey visits Consol Energy Center.
"Maybe in the next few days, we'll have an update on him," Bylsma said.
Winger Pascal Dupuis will move to center tonight against the Devils. Dupuis played center briefly earlier this season. The Penguins centers are now Evgeni Malkin, Dupuis, Richard Park and Joe Vitale.
Whether it's short-term or long-term, Staal is a huge loss for the Penguins, who are already without center and captain Sidney Crosby and others. Staal, a two-way center and one of the team's top penalty-killers, is having a strong season, with 15 goals and 21 points in 34 games.
"We're talking about a guy who is doing a lot of different things for the team in a lot of different areas -- offensively, defensively, penalty killing, faceoffs, going against other teams' top lines," Bylsma said. "In addition, he's scoring goals and adding some [scoring] punch to our team.
"It's a big part of our team that right now is not going to be in the lineup."
Bylsma said the players remain resilient.
"I don't sense the team being down ... because of the injuries," Bylsma said.
In better injury news, forward Dustin Jeffrey joined the Penguins for their morning skate, the first time has practiced with team since having a setbackin early November following spring knee surgery. He said he feels good and mostly needs to work on conditioning before he can return to the lineup.
First Published January 7, 2012 12:06 pm
