If there is an area of weakness for the Pittsburgh Penguins this playoff season, it’s their blue line. With star Kris Letang out the rest of the season with a neck injury, the loss of Trevor Daley for the last two games of the Washington Capitals series weakened an already-thin group of defenders.
Daley is still listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and missed Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. But Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reported on Hockey Night in Canada’s Headlines segment Saturday night that Daley could be back in the lineup soon.
“There might be some help for that depleted blue line on Pittsburgh,” Kypreos said. “It’s believed his lower-body injury has rebounded a little better in the last week and he is possible to reappear for Game 3.”
While the Penguins have been dealing with injuries on their defence, they’ve still gotten some positive production from the guys still playing. Justin Schultz leads all Penguins defenders with eight points in 12 games, followed by Ian Cole with five and Ron Hainsey with four.
“The perception is the production has been down for Pittsburgh, but actually guys it’s probably equal to where it was a year ago, which speaks volumes for guys like Schultz, Hainsey and Cole and their contributions so far in these playoffs.”
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