Penguins get set for pre-season finale tonight against Buffalo
One more tune up before they start to count
The Penguins have not announced their lineup yet for their final pre-season game of the year. The Buffalo Sabres will be coming to town.
Mike Sullivan did say that Tristan Jarry will start the game, and the plan is to play the entire 60 minutes for the starting goalie.
Pittsburgh’s regular season doesn’t start for six more days (next Thursday, October 13th), so it’ll be a bit of a wait after tonight for more action.
The Pens held an optional morning skate this morning, and had some good news in the form of Teddy Blueger rejoining his teammates on the ice for the first time since suffering an undisclosed upper body injury. Blueger was in a non-contact jersey. His status remains unknown for the start of the season, but given the extra time beforehand could be on track to not miss any time that counts.
The only other significant injury the team has dealt with in the pre-season also looks behind them in the form of Jeff Carter’s recovery from another undisclosed upper body injury that kept him out of the majority of camp. Carter has been working this week on a line with Kasperi Kapanen and Danton Heinen and presumably will be good to go moving forward,
With just this one more game to go, the best thing for the Pens is not the result or even how the “tune up” goes, but rather just staying healthy for the start of the regular season.
Big questions still remain on defense, with possibly one more chance for players like Mark Friedman and P.O Joseph to show their stuff. Provided they are even in the lineup tonight.
Feel free to use the comments if you’re watching the game and want to discuss.