Chris Kunitz News

The trio now must adapt in a different way. With three players who were in the AHL 10 days ago manning half of the Penguins ' defensive unit, McKee, Eaton and Skoula have seen their responsibilities expand.

Share + Nov 20, 2009 6:45 pm US/Eastern LINK: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins PITTSBURGH 1 of 1 Nikolai Kulemin No.

It is Thursday, November 19th, 2009. A the Pittsburgh Penguins have completed 25.6 percent of their schedule and the only thing people can write about are the injuries.

In yet another eventful day on the Penguins' injury front, there was good and bad news.

Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined for six points in Saturday's 6-5 overtime victory over Boston.

A few hours before Saturday night's game with the Boston Bruins, Dan Bylsma and the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that top-line left wing Chris Kunitz would miss two weeks with an always ridiculously specificA "lower body injury." Bylsma calmly explained to the media, " Chris [Kunitz] has been dealing with a lower-body injury for a while now.

Evgeni Malkin's return from a seven-game absence was enough to help the Penguins snap their longest losing streak of the season.

Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar is expected to return to the lineup in less than two weeks.

He came to save the day. Center Evgeni Malkin showed the way for the Penguins on Saturday with three assists - including a nifty, cross-ice dish to set up winger Bill Guerin's tying-goal with .04 seconds remaining in regulation.

The Penguins have recalled forward Mark Letestu from its American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. Letestu presumably was brought up in case Evgeni Malkin, who missed the past seven games because of a strained shoulder, or left winger Chris Kunitz, who was excused from Friday's practice because of what coach Dan Bylsma called "a nagging ...

Left wing Chris Kunitz didn't participate in Friday's practice, taking what Penguins coach Dan Bylsma called a "maintenance day" to rest an unspecified "nagging injury." Kunitz skated with Jordan Staal and Bill Guerin on the second line Thursday, but he was replaced by Chris Bourque in practice.

Could there be a team more glad to go home? The Penguins left town Nov. 1 for a four-game, cross-country trip with an 11-3 record.

Ryan Whitney was Pittsburgh's second-best puck-moving defenseman behind Sergei Gonchar last season.

ANAHEIM, Calif. ? Hoisting the Stanley Cup last spring hasn't changed Penguins general manager Ray Shero's perspective on trading defenseman Ryan Whitney to Anaheim on Feb.

Pittsburgh Penguins' Chris Kunitz, left, watches as San Jose Sharks teammates Jamie McGinn, center, and Jed Ortmeyer celebrate McGinn's goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Nov.

The Penguins fell to the San Jose Sharks, 5-0, tonight at HP Pavilion and in the process lost another player to injury.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to bounce back from their first road loss of the season when they visit the San Jose Sharks for tonight's battle between first-place teams at HP Pavilion.

This was such foreign territory that it stung just that much more. The Penguins had not given up more than four goals in a game before last night.

Anze Kopitar scored two goals, as the Los Angeles Kings tallied four times in the third period to post a 5-2 win over the Penguins, sending Pittsburgh to its first loss in eight road games this season.

When the Penguins signed Mike Rupp during free agency this summer, they knew they were getting a rugged forward with size who had shown he can play within a system.