After four consecutive losses – the latest being a 6-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday – the Pittsburgh Penguins will look to bounce back Thursday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
And they’ll face their cross-state rivals yet again.
The Penguins will take on the Flyers in a rematch of Tuesday’s dud, and they will look to split the season series. Since the 4 Nations Face-off break, the Penguins have been outscored 19-7, and they know they need to be a whole lot better in order to get the win Thursday.
And they’ll also have to do it without forward Michael Bunting, who was placed on injured reserve earlier Thursday after undergoing surgery to remove his appendix. He is out indefinitely, and his gritty presence in the lineup will be missed.
“He’s just a competitive guy that goes to the net-front,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “He plays in the battle areas. He makes it hard on our opponents in a number of different ways. He also has an uncanny ability to irritate people out there, and that helps the group. I think, when you have players like that, it drags you into the fight, and that’s an important aspect of becoming a team and making sure we’re invested emotionally in the game. And he’s one of those guys.”
Forward Emil Bemstrom has been recalled from the @WBSPenguins (AHL) and Boko Imama has been activated off of Injured Reserve.
Forward Michael Bunting has been placed on IR and Matt Nieto has been re-assigned to WBS. pic.twitter.com/BY6XxsK80Z
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 27, 2025
In other news, forward Boko Imama was activated from injured reserve and is available for the game, and forward Emil Bemstrom was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Forward Matt Nieto – placed on waivers Wednesday – cleared waivers and was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre Scranton.
Alex Nedejlkovic will get his second consecutive start between the pipes for the Penguins. Nedeljkovic has allowed 11 goals in parts of five periods since the break.
Here is the rest of the starting lineup for the Penguins:
The Flyers have won three straight games, including another against the Penguins on Feb. 8 just before the 4 Nations break. They are 26-26-7 on the season and sit just five points out of the second wild card spot.
The Penguins will also be celebrating former Penguin Max Talbot Thursday, as they are holding a bobblehead night in his honor. The bobblehead will commemorate Talbot’s famous and momentum-shifting “shushing the crowd” moment against Philadelphia in Game 6 of the 2009 Eastern Conference quarterfinal series between the two teams.
The Penguins went on to win that contest and, later, the Stanley Cup – when Talbot scored the only two goals in Game 7 against the Detroit Red Wings.
Bookmark THN – Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
