The Pittsburgh Penguins are facing a shakeup on offense in their final game before the Olympic break. Winger Avery Hayes was recalled to the NHL and will make his NHL debut to help Pittsburgh address absences for Noel Acciari, Rickard Rakell, and Blake Lizotte.
Acciari entered the day with an illness. He was designated as a game-time decision and ultimately scratched. Rakell has been designated as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. It isn’t yet clear if or how that injury will impact his availability for the Olympic games. Finally, Lizotte will be away from the team to attend to the birth of his child. All injury updates come per Josh Yohe of The Athletic.
The lineup shift will leave Penguins forward Benjamin Kindel and Egor Chinakhov as focal pieces of the offense, with the rookie Kindel even earning top power-play reps. Chinakhov has scored six points in his last six games, while Kindel has five points. They will help make up for the glaring holes left by Pittsburgh’s absentees. All three have made their marks felt over the last two weeks, though surprisingly Lizotte and Acciari have proven the hotter hands, with four points to Rakell’s three.
Pittsburgh will get another boost from one of their AHL leading scorers. Hayes has racked up 23 points and 41 penalty minutes in 31 AHL games this season. It’s a ramped up year across the board after the two-way winger posted 23 goals, 42 points, and 58 PIMs in 60 games last season. The undrafted Hayes is in his third AHL season. He was a two-time OHL champion across four years in the league, where he made a name for himself as a plug-and-play winger capable of fitting next to any linemates. Pittsburgh will hope Hayes brings that same flexibility into his first game at the top flight.
Thankfully it’s not Kevin Hayes
And Avery already has 2 goals tonight. Wow