The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without one of their top goal scorers in Rickard Rakell when they try to return to the win column at home against the St. Louis Blues on Monday.
The Penguins will need to get used to playing without Rakell. The winger, who scored 35 goals last season to lead the team, is expected to be out for up to eight weeks after surgery on his left hand. Rakell was struck by a puck during Saturday’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“You hate to see it, but I think with Raks, he’s going to be in good hands here,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said on Saturday. “We got a great staff here that’s going to be working hard to help him get back as soon as he can.”
The Penguins summoned Ville Koivunen from the minors. In Sunday’s practice, Filip Hallander moved into Rakell’s spot on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust while Koivunen skated on the third line.
Koivunen, who made the opening night roster but struggled and was sent to the minors, returns after collecting four goals and 11 points in six AHL games.
“Of course, it gives (confidence) when you score a couple of goals, score a couple of points and of course, when you win a couple of games,” Koivunen said.
The Penguins are seeking a rebound after the game against Columbus. They blew a pair of one-goal leads before falling behind 4-2 early in the third period but managed a comeback to earn a single point. Pittsburgh’s four-game winning streak was broken.
“The last couple games we’ve been outshot, on our heels a little bit,” Crosby said. “So, we’ve got to find a way to dictate.”
Evgeni Malkin collected a pair of assists to run his point-scoring streak to six games in which he has netted nine points (two goals, seven assists).
Speaking of looking to turn things around, the Blues have lost three straight games, with the latest a shocking 6-4 defeat at the hands of the host Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
St. Louis held a 4-0 lead early in the second period but surrendered six unanswered goals.
“We just didn’t manage the game the way we could have,” captain Brayden Schenn said. “We gave them life and they got some bounces. At the end of the day, that’s all on us.”
The Blues were close to reaching the second intermission with a 4-1 lead, but Detroit scored a pair of goals 27 seconds apart late in the middle frame and went on to hand St. Louis its fourth loss in five outings.
“We have to be able to check for 60 minutes,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “We didn’t check for 60 minutes. We did a great job for about 38, and the last 22 weren’t good enough.”
St. Louis has surrendered 13 goals in the last two outings and 24 in its past five games.
The Blues have a major injury concern of their own. Robert Thomas left early in the third period due to an upper-body injury. There was no update regarding the top-line center who collected two assists in Saturday’s game.
Jordan Kyrou scored against Detroit to extend his point streak to six games, with two goals and four assists during that span.
–Field Level Media
