Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner will not dress for Sunday’s game against the Florida Panthers due to an upper-body injury, the club announced in a tweet on April 5. Arturs Silovs will make his second straight start in net, and the Penguins made two roster recalls ahead of the game.
Skinner, acquired from the Edmonton Oilers in December, played the entirety of Pittsburgh’s 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday but sat out Saturday’s 9-4 win over Florida, in which Silovs stopped 19 of 23 shots. The team did not provide further details on the nature of Skinner’s upper-body injury or an expected timeline for his return. In 24 games with the Penguins since the trade, the 27-year-old has posted a 2.99 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage.
To bolster the roster, Pittsburgh recalled forward Avery Hayes from AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and brought up goaltender Taylor Gauthier from the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. The moves give the Penguins an extra forward and goaltending depth for the final stretch of the regular season; it was not immediately clear whether Gauthier would serve as Silovs’ backup or as emergency depth.
Silovs has stepped into a heavy workload down the stretch and has now been handed consecutive starts as Pittsburgh navigates Skinner’s absence. His strong showing in Saturday’s offensive outburst helped the Penguins take the victory, but the team will rely on him again Sunday as it attempts to maintain position in the Metropolitan Division.
Pittsburgh enters Sunday’s game 39-22-16, holding second place in the Metropolitan Division and a five-point cushion over the New York Islanders with five games remaining. The club’s remaining schedule features three road games: a trip to New Jersey to face the Devils on Thursday, a home-and-home sequence against the Washington Capitals, and a regular-season finale at the St. Louis Blues.
With the playoff push tightening, the status of Skinner — who had been alternating starts since joining Pittsburgh — will be a developing storyline. The Penguins’ front office has not yet outlined any further medical updates, leaving the team to rely on Silovs and recalled depth as the regular season winds to a close.