With the Pittsburgh Penguins season over, the parent club returned forward Eric Tangradi and defensemen Brian Strait and Simon Despres to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL). All three will be ready to go for Game Three on Wednesday. The question is whether or not head coach John Hynes wants to tinker with a lineup that has dominated Hershey through two games.
The Penguins also signed former draft choices Dominik Uher (5th round - 2011) and Reid McNeill (6th round - 2010) to amateur tryouts (ATO). These guys will join the Black Aces squad.
On defense, it would be Samuelsson and Wild as the odd men out for Strait and Despres.
It will be interesting to see where Tangradi fits in this lineup. Here's the lines the Pens have used in the first two games:
Petersen - Street - Walker
Lerg - O'Reilly - Thompson
McDonald - Gibbons/Rust - Williams
DeFazio - Sill - Craig
So who sits for Tangradi in Game Three? In my opinion, you don't even touch the Prostitution Line. Street, Petersen and Walker have been a formidable line for quite some time. I'm thinking Tangradi would be a nice add with O'Reilly and Lerg, replacing Thompson's spot on that line. No one has played themselves out of the lineup to this point, which is why Hynes will have a tough decision to make.
Pens beat writer Joonathan Bombulie suggests Lerg back to center to sit Rust/Gibbons, meaning Tangradi would slot in on the line with O'Reilly and Thompson.
We'll have to wait and see. None of the three down from Pittsburgh practiced today. Bortuzzo also was absent due to illness.
In other news, get your tickets for Game Three in Hershey as soon as possible. I've been on hold at the ticket office for the last 2o minutes!
Keep calling and buying out the tickets. Pens fans are the best in the league, hands down! Game Three is Wednesday night in Hershey at the Giant Center. From their team website:
Tickets are available at Giant Center Box office or by phone 717-508-BEAR (2327). The Box Office is open Monday- Saturday from 9 AM -5 PM.
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