Penguins forward Teddy Blueger misses season opener due to injury
Forward Teddy Blueger was absent from the Penguins’ lineup for their season-opening game Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes at PPG Paints Arena.
An undisclosed injury has hobbled Blueger, typically the Penguins’ fourth-line center, since he was injured during a practice session in Cranberry on Sept. 28.
Since then, he has only participated in team activities while wearing a non-contact jersey, including an optional morning skate Thursday.
Blueger has been hesitant to offer many particulars on his ailment and has deferred to coach Mike Sullivan for any kind of time frame for a return to the lineup.
Sullivan has offered little more than a “day-to-day” prognosis for Blueger.
The 28-year-old has admitted some surprise over how his injury has lingered.
“It’s been getting better,” Blueger said Wednesday after practice. “It’s definitely a lot slower than I would have hoped or liked. It’s pretty frustrating, but sometimes that’s how it goes. You’ve just got to kind of stick with it and take it day by day and take the small improvements as they come.”
Blueger was ambiguous when asked if he had suffered any sort of setback.
“It’s really probably not straightforward as that,” Blueger said. “There’s a lot that goes into it. We’re doing everything we can to work it back in and get myself feeling 100% and ready to be back.”
In 65 games last season, Blueger had 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) while averaging 15:01 of ice time per contest.
Poehling steps in
In Blueger’s absence, forward Ryan Poehling, acquired via trade in July, opened Thursday’s contest as the Penguins’ fourth-line center with Brock McGinn at left wing and Josh Archibald on the right wing.
Just being in the lineup represented something of a career milestone for Poehling as it was the first time in his four-year career he played in a season-opener. A first-round pick (No. 25 overall) of the Montreal Canadiens in 2017, Poehling never fully realized his potential with that club.
“It’s just an accomplishment,” Poehling said Wednesday. “My path to get here was harder than expected. But I think it shows that, if you work through adversity, that good things will happen to you. So I’m excited.”
In addition to taking on Blueger’s fourth-line duties, Poehling worked on the penalty kill along with McGinn and Archibald. Poehling suggests he has developed cohesion with the wingers.
“Obviously, with going through camp, (coaches) try different combinations and stuff,” Poehling said. “I feel like the last week, week and a half, the last (few) preseason games, we got to play with each other. It’s nice because we (penalty kill) too. You kind of get that chemistry going, as well. It’s been good so far.”
Joseph steps up
Also playing in his first NHL opener was defenseman P.O Joseph who opened the contest on the third pairing alongside Jan Rutta.
Top-pairing defenseman Kris Letang has taken Joseph, a fellow Quebecois, under his wing since Joseph joined the organization and spoke with a measure of pride over the player Joseph has matured into.
“We saw what he was able to do (during the 2020-21 season) when he came up with us and played big minutes,” Letang said. “The fact that he went back to (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and played different situations - power play, (penalty kill), six-on-five, stuff like that – he gets put in all kinds of situations so that he can learn more and get more experience. We see a much calmer P.O than we used to. Obviously, all the tools are there. He’s a really good skater, he’s rangy, he has good vision. He can provide offense and also play defense real well.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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