Penguins Recall Imama, Option Pickering To AHL Ahead Of Tilt In Seattle

The Pittsburgh Penguins made a few roster moves on 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, re-assigned defenseman Owen Pickering to WBS.

Imama, 28, is a tough enforcer-type player hailing from Montreal. In 24 AHL games this season, he has registered three goals and five points as well as 47 penalty minutes.

Pickering, 20, has made significant strides in his first taste of NHL action this season. In 25 games, the rookie blueliner registered a goal and three points and has proven to be a reliable presence in his own zone.

Given the Penguins’ forward situation, this move makes sense. There is an illness making its rounds – most recently to forward 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 midst of a long Western road trip – it was important for them to recall an extra forward so they could ice 12 healthy forwards for the remainder of their trip.

That trip continues Saturday afternoon, when they will seek revenge against the Seattle Kraken at 4:00 p.m. ET after the Kraken beat them 4-2 in Pittsburgh on Jan. 14. The Penguins controlled play for most of that game, outshooting the Kraken 33-18 and spending most of the evening in the attacking zone, where Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord was spectacular.

They gave up two goals in 50 seconds during the third period en route to their loss. It was also Tristan Jarry’s final 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 against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. The Kraken are coming off of a 3-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday, but they are 3-2 in their five games since beating the Penguins.

Rookie Joel Blomqvist will get the start in goal for the Penguins, and their lineup will look a bit different without top-six forward Rust in the fold. Imama has already arrived in Seattle, and Lizotte is a game-time decision.

Something to, perhaps, keep an eye on if Imama – an enforcer – is in the lineup is if the Penguins seek a bit of retribution on Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson, who took a liberty on Penguins captain Sidney Crosby away from the puck with a heavy cross-check in their last tilt.