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Notebook: Penguins address player moves
Karen Price can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7980.
The team may end up buying out the contract of at least one player, putting together a trade, or possibly both.
"Joey Melichar should be ready soon, and Martin Straka and Randy Robitaille," Patrick said Saturday. "We can only have 23 guys on our roster, so we have to do some things. We’re just looking at all our options right now."
Patrick said he spoke with Vujtek and told him things hadn’t worked out the way they’d hoped. The forward was a healthy scratch in four of the first five games. He played the next four on the second line after Robitaille broke a bone in his ankle, recording one assist. He injured his shoulder against Washington on Monday and has been conspicuously absent from the team the past several days.
KEEP THE FREE STUFF COMING
The Penguins will add at least two promotional nights this season because the first three have brought such a big crowd to Mellon Arena. Last night’s game against the Lightning was the first sellout of the season, and it also happened to be Mario Lemieux youth practice jersey night.
The other two promotional nights were Oct. 19, also against the Lightning (youth backpack night) and Oct. 26 against the Buffalo Sabres (calendar night).
Both games sold more tickets (16,106 against Tampa Bay, 16,188 against Buffalo) than the usual big draws — New York Rangers (14,813) and Washington Capitals (14,303).
Vice President of Communications Tom McMillan said it was a trend they couldn’t ignore.
Feb. 23rd against the New Jersey Devils will be Iceberg bobblehead night and March 16 against the Florida Panthers will be Kevin Stevens bobblehead night.
THAT WASN'T VERY NICE
The Penguins got a break in the first period thanks to Lightning forward Vaclav Prospal. Penguins goalie Johan Hedberg went behind the net and tried to clear the puck off the boards, but broke his stick in the process. He got a defenseman’s stick to use while Dick Tarnstrom brought him a new stick from the bench. The only problem was that the Penguins were in the process of killing off Wayne Primeau’s four-minute penalty for high-sticking. Tarnstrom couldn’t get a break in the action long enough to get the stick to his goalie. So, he slid it behind him on the ice then tried to push it back to Hedberg while still keeping an eye on the power play in front of him.
Prospal didn’t want Hedberg to get any help, so he slid the goalie’s stick further out of his reach. That brought an interference call that canceled out the second half of Primeau’s penalty.
CATCHING THEM RIGHT
Last night's game was the fourth time this season that the Penguins have caught a team on the second game of back-to-back sets. When the Lightning came to town two weeks ago, they had played against Atlanta the night before. On Friday, they lost to the Washington Capitals, 3-2, in the final two minutes of the game.
"That’s the way the schedule works," Kehoe said. "Down the road, we’re going to play, get in late and the next night, they’ll be waiting for us. It doesn’t mean you don’t have to play. And just because you played last night, doesn’t mean you’re not going to be ready."
The Penguins have played only one back-to-back set this season. They lost 7-3 to the Detroit Red Wings and then returned home to beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2. They have 14 more sets of back-to-back games this year.
SLAP SHOTS
Defenseman Hans Jonsson was the only healthy scratch for the Penguins. Injured scratches were forwards Shean Donovan (knee), Vladimir Vujtek (shoulder), Randy Robitaille (ankle) and Martin Straka (back), in addition to Melichar and Ference. The Lightning played without forwards Ben Clymer and Chris Dingman and defenseman Nolan Pratt.
