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Tuesday, 01 February 2011 13:36

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins forward Mark Letestu (right) was injured during today's morning skate and will not play in tonight's game against the Rangers due to what is described as a "lower-body" injury.

His absence will allow Eric Godard to return to the lineup. Godard has not played since Dec. 26 in Ottawa when he suffered facial injuries during a fight with Senators defenseman Matt Carkner.

In 13 games this season, Godard has one assist and 48 penalty minutes.

Letestu, who has centered the team's top line with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin out of the lineup due to injuries, has appeared in 50 games this season and has recorded 20 points. He has also been the team's second-best faceoff specialist after Crosby with a success rate of 54.1 percent.

During an appearance on the NHL Live, Penguins general manager Ray Shero mentioned Letestu caught his skate in a rut on the notoriously poor ice at Madison Square Garden.

EN Says: Dustin Jeffrey, step on down.

Jeffrey is expected to center the top line with Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz and he's also expected to get time on top power play. This is a big opportunity for him to show he belongs at the NHL level. He has a top-six skill set and he really hasn't had a chance to display those skill all that much while "slumming" around on the fourth line.

Update: While the Penguins are losing bodies, the Rangers are getting them back. Forward Brandon Dubinsky, the team's leading scorer, will return to the lineup. He was supposed to be out three to four weeks due to stress fracture in his leg but he has only missed five games. In 47 games, Dubinsky has 38 games (17 goals, 21 assists).

With Dubinsky and former Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko (shoulder) potentially back in the lineup, the Rangers demoted forward Evgeny Grachev to Connecticut of the AHL.

(Photo: Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Comments (3)

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written by Bones, February 01, 2011 - 01:46 PM

Tough to be a Penguin center this year. Nice to see Jeffrey get his shot, not expecting an offensive explosion though. MIght be another grind-it-out, 2-1 or 3-2 type of game.

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written by The Bearded One, February 01, 2011 - 04:44 PM

hate to see #10 injured, but in reality without #87 and#71 the rest of the forwards have become interchangeable. Until Pens get their two superstars back this is #29's team.

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written by espo33, February 01, 2011 - 04:55 PM

Seth, before you claim Jeffrey to be a top 6 player, remember he was a 6th rounder for a reason and put up good to great assist numbers in juniors and decent last year in WB as a rookie. He has good linemates also.

And looking at Letestu's numbers they are similiar.

Of course I hope the best, but at the same time saying he should've of been on 1st line from the start with Kunitz and Dupius is a little bit of a stretch. He should have been with Connor and Talbot/Rupp on the wing. That is better then with Adams...

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