We’re in the home stretch of the preseason, folks. In less than a week, the games will matter.
Tonight, we have the second-to-last preseason clash featuring flightless birds and bluejackets.
The puck drops at 7:00 p.m., and the game will be available on the Pittsburgh Penguins website. Fans can listen to the game on the Penguins app and 105.9 the X. There is no television coverage.
Below is the Penguins’ lineup against the Columbus Blue Jackets for Thursday night’s brawl.
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Forwards
2 – Rutger McGroarty
12 – Corey Andonovski
13 – Kevin Hayes
14 – Boko Imama
15 – Joona Koppanen
18 – Jesse Puljujarvi
22 – Sam Poulin
26 – Tristan Broz
41 – Ville Koivunen
44 – Jonathan Gruden
48 – Valtteri Puustinen
52 – Emil Bemstrom
Defensemen
4 – Nathan Clurman
5 – Ryan Shea
7 – John Ludvig
25 – Sebastian Aho
38 – Owen Pickering
45 – Harrison Brunicke
82 – Filip Kral
Goalies
31 – Filip Larsson
35 – Tristan Jarry
The Blue Jackets have also shared their lineup for those interested parties.
Forwards
4 Cole Sillinger
7 Sean Kuraly
10 Dmitri Voronkov
19 Adam Fantilli
21 James van Riemdsyk
23 Sean Monahan
24 Mathieu Olivier
38 Boone Jenner
59 Yegor Chinakhov
82 Mikael Pyyhtia
86 Kirill Marchenko
91 Kent Johnson
Defensemen
2 Jake Christiansen
3 Jack Johnson
8 Zach Werenski
9 Ian Provorov
55 David Jiricek
78 Damon Severson
Goalies
40 Daniil Tarasov
90 Elvis Merzlikins
Columbus has opted for the more star-laden approach in this game, a good test for some of Pittsburgh’s budding youngsters.
It appears the Penguins’ stars will partake in the ‘dress rehearsal’ game on Friday, but that doesn’t mean Thursday’s game lacks any worthwhile storylines.
Will Filip Larsson or Joel Blomqvist serve as backup to Tristan Jarry to start the season with Alex Nedeljkovic sustaining an injury?
Does the hotshot 18-year-old blue-liner Harrison Brunicke continue to make his case for an opening-night roster spot?
We’ll get closer to getting answers to these questions tonight.
