The Pittsburgh Penguins made some roster moves Saturday to shore up their forward depth for the remainder of their West Coast road trip.
Pittsburgh recalled forward Boko Imama from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) – their AHL affiliate – and, in a corresponding move, reassigned defenseman Owen Pickering to WBS.
Imama, 28, is a tough enforcer-type player from Montreal. In 24 AHL games this season, he has recorded three goals and five points along with 47 penalty minutes.
Pickering, 20, has made significant progress in his first taste of NHL action this season. In 25 games, the rookie Blueliner recorded one goal and three points and proved to be a reliable presence in his own zone.
Considering the Penguins’ forward situation, this move makes sense. There’s an illness making its rounds – most recently to attack Blake Lizotte – and forward Bryan Rust was injured in Thursday’s game and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
With Rust avoiding injured reserve – and the Penguins in the middle of a long Western road trip – it was important for them to remember an extra forward so they could ice 12 healthy forwards for the remainder of their trip.
Mike Sullivan said Joel Blomqvist starts in goal today against Seattle.
He added that Pittsburgh remembered Boko Imama to make sure the Penguins had enough guys to line up, as Bryan Rust is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and won’t play.
– pens inside the scoop (@PensInsideScoop) January 25, 2025
That journey continues Saturday afternoon, as they will look for revenge against the Seattle Kraken at 4:00 p.m. ET after the Kraken beat them 4-2 in Pittsburgh on January 14. The Penguins controlled play for most of this game, outscoring the Kraken 33-18 and spending most of the night in the attack zone, where Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord was spectacular.
They gave up two goals in 50 seconds in the third period en route to their loss. This was also Tristan Jarry’s last game with the Penguins before being placed on waivers. Jarry then cleared waivers and was optioned to WBS.
The Penguins will need to play much of the same type of game against Seattle to get back on track after a tough 5-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. The Kraken are coming off a 3-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday, but they are 3-2 in five games since beating the Penguins.
Rookie Joel Blomqvist will get the start in goal for the Penguins, and their lineup will look a little different without the top-six forward rust in the crease. Imama has already arrived in Seattle and Lizotte is a game decision.
Something to, perhaps, monitor if Imama – an enforcer – is in the lineup is if the Penguins are looking for a bit of retaliation on Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson, who took a liberty on the Penguins captain Sidney Crosby away from the puck with a heavy check in their final tilt.
