After playing just eight minutes in Pittsburgh's 3-1 win on Tuesday night, Petr Sykora is expected to find himself in a suit and tie for game 5, as the Penguins will be welcoming Miroslav Satan back to the lineup according to Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As we've already pointed out during this series, Sykora has been nonexistent since the beginning of March, and has struggled to produce in interim head coach Dan Bylsma's system. There's also the possibility that he's been playing injured, which also might be a factor in the decision to bench him for Thursday's game.
After signing as a free agent in the offseason, Satan scored 17 goals to go with 19 assists -- production that was almost identical to Sykora's in terms of points-per-game and points-per-minute -- before being sent to the minor leagues just prior to the NHL's trade deadline. During his stint with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the 34-year-old winger recorded nine points (three goals, six assists) in 10 games. He was re-called by the Penguins before the playoffs and was a healthy scratch for the first four games.
I argued on Monday that it wouldn't make much sense to swap Sykora for Satan, and after watching him miss an open net from six inches away on Tuesday, and then proceed have a puck bounce off his stick, negating what would have been a clear breakaway, well, I almost had to reconsider my stance.
Molinari also reported that defenseman Kris Letang is questionable for Thursday's game with a -- surprise! -- unspecified injury. Letang has two assists so far in the postseason, and will be replaced by veteran Phillipe Boucher if he's not able to play.
