The Eastern Conference’s strongest teams just seem to be getting stronger on Saturday.
Just moments after it was revealed that Henrik Lundqvist will return for the New York Rangers, the Pittsburgh Penguins confirmed that Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist are back in the lineup against the Arizona Coyotes today.
For all the worries about the Penguins’ shaky play lately, plenty have countered that Pittsburgh has been rocked by another season full of injury challenges. Getting two key forwards back - Hornqvist has shown that he can be a huge contributor, too - should provide a little more clarity regarding the Penguins’ position among the East’s power brokers.
Of course, it might take one or both of these scorers some time to get healthy and up to speed. The good news is that the Penguins have two weeks to gear up for the postseason, so the hope is that they’ll shake off any rust by then.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Josh Yohe provided his guess as far as how Pittsburgh’s lines might look against the Coyotes:
Were I to guess today's lines...
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) March 28, 2015
Perron-Crosby-Hornqvist
Kunitz-Malkin-Comeau
Winnik-Sutter-Downie
Spaling-Lapierre-Bennett/Adams