Hours before their matchup against the Florida Panthers at PPG Paints Arena Sunday, Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Muse raised the possibility of a surprise goaltending announcement by refusing to name a starter.
Minutes before warmup, the Penguins announced that expected starting goalie Stuart Skinner would not dress because of injury, and the team recalled their closest goalie available, Taylor Gauthier of the Wheeling Nailers.
Gauthier, 25, has never played an NHL game, but is the Wheeling franchise’s all-time winningest goalie. The team also recalled Avery Hayes just after 2 p.m. Sunday.
Gauthier has a .923 save percentage in 33 ECHL games this season.
UPDATE: A Penguins spokesperson said the Penguins would have recalled Sergei Murashov, but the tight timeline of finding out Skinner couldn’t play and the afternoon start time would not have allowed Murashov to arrive in time.
It is believed that Skinner was injured on the bench in Saturday’s 9-4 win over Florida when he was hit by a puck. Arturs Silovs will start for the Penguins. He also started in Saturday’s win.
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