With the Pittsburgh Penguins on a three-game losing streak, and not looking particularly good in the process, they are making a couple of changes before Sunday’s home game against the Ottawa Senators. The top-two forward prospects in the organization, Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty, are getting recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
As long as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was playing meaningful hockey games it seemed possible — if not likely — that the Penguins were going to let them keep playing important games instead of meaningless games in the NHL. But now that Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has officially clinched its spot in the AHL playoffs, this is a good time to give them a taste of NHL action before going back down to the AHL for the postseason.