On the Ottawa Senators …
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa: The Senators will be without defenseman Cody Ceci tonight. It didn’t sound like defenseman Erik Karlsson would be ready to go tonight. They are also without Marc Methot.
On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Jonathan Bombulie of hte Pittsburgh Tribune Review: Coach Mike Sullivan said yesterday afternoon that winger Chris Kunitz is out “longer term” with a lower-body injury.
Defenseman Ron Hainsey returned to the lineup.
The Penguins are still without Evgeni Malkin (shoulder), Kris Letang (upper body), Carl Hagelin (lower body), Olli Maatta (hand) and Trevor Daley (knee).
“We’d love to get them to get some game action so they can improve their timing and game conditioning and all of that,” Sullivan said. “Our guys are doing their best to try to go through the rehab process to make that happen. At the end of the day, we’ll see what we end up with and we’ll make it work, regardless of what happens.”
On the the Tampa Bay Lightning …
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Tribune: Forward Ryan Callahan thinks he is progressing well from his hip issues. He skated yesterday for 15 minutes, his first time on the ice in months. Though he won’t be ready to return during the regular, it’s possible that he could return if they make a deep run in the playoffs. Callahan has three years left on his contract and he doesn’t think he’ll have any issues going forward.
“One hundred percent,” Callahan said. “I should have no lingering issues from this at all.”
It’s Steven Stamkos’ call when he’ll get back in the lineup.
Tyler Johnson and Jason Garrison returned to the lineup yesterday, but Garrison left in the second period as he thought he might of re-aggravated the injury.