PITTSBURGH -- Washington Capitals defenseman Tom Poti is not playing in Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins due to a upper-body injury.

Poti was replaced in the lineup by veteran Roman Hamrlik, who had not played since Jan. 24. The 38-year-old has one assist and is a minus-1 in three games this season.

Poti appeared in five of the Capitals' 10 games this season after not playing in the NHL for more than two years due to a groin injury. He had recorded one assist. A team official characterized Poti's status as day to day.

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is not in the lineup Thursday against the Washington Capitals.

He is out with a lower-body injury.

Letang, who is tied for second among NHL defensemen in scoring with nine points, is averaging 25:07 of ice time for the first-place Penguins. He had an assist during 25:19 in Tuesday's 4-2 victory at the New York Islanders and did not visibly appear to be physically hindered.

After he prematurely left the morning skate, Letang was not available to the media. Coach Dan Bylsma, as is his policy, did not comment.

PITTSBURGH -- Dylan Reese was born in Pittsburgh approximately two months after the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Mario Lemieux and a little more than two months before Le Magnifique made his NHL debut.

Reese said it's no coincidence he became a professional hockey player.

"I grew up here watching the Pens, and I'm a product of the early Stanley Cups in '91 and '92," the newest Penguins defenseman said Thursday. "It's really a dream come true to be up here playing -- and hopefully playing in the new building here with the Penguins, so I'm excited."

Reese was recalled from Pittsburgh's American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Wednesday night and joined the Penguins for their morning skate the following day in advance of their game against the Washington Capitals.

There is no guarantee he will be in the lineup Thursday -- coach Dan Bylsma traditionally has been loath to shake up a winning formula, and the Penguins have won four straight -- but Reese is hoping he'll have his chance to make an impression soon.

PITTSBURGH -- The projected lines and defensemen pairings for tonight's game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals at Consol Energy Center:

PENGUINS

Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Pascal Dupuis

Zach Boychuk – Evgeni Malkin – James Neal

Matt Cooke – Brandon Sutter – Tyler Kennedy

Tanner Glass – Joe Vitale – Craig Adams

Simon Despres – Kris Letang

Brooks Orpik – Paul Martin

Robert Bortuzzo – Deryk Engelland

Marc-Andre Fleury

Tomas Vokoun

Injured: Matt Niskanen

Scratched: Eric Tangradi, Dustin Jeffrey, Dylan Reese

Coach Dan Bylsma traditionally has been loathe to make any changes in his lineup during a winning streak, and the Penguins are riding a stretch of four consecutive victories. Reese, a native of suburban Pittsburgh, was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League late Wednesday. During the morning skate, he alternated shifts with Bortuzzo alongside Engelland. Also, Letang left the ice early, but it is not expected he has an ailment that will keep him from playing tonight.

CAPITALS

Wojtek Wolski - Mike Ribeiro - Alex Ovechkin

Marcus Johansson - Nicklas Backstrom - Troy Brouwer

Jason Chimera - Joey Crabb - Joel Ward

Matt Hendricks - Jay Beagle - Eric Fehr

Karl Alzner - Mike Green

PITTSBURGH -- In part because of the outstanding organizational depth at the position, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been carrying eight defensemen.

Now that the first injury of the season has hit the team, the fruits of that depth will begin to be realized.

Matt Niskanen will be out for two-to-four weeks with an ankle injury sustained early in the Penguins' 2-1 shootout win Sunday at Ottawa. In the immediate future, that means rookie Simon Despres regains his spot in the lineup. The former first-round pick will be paired with Kris Letang to open the game Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

"He's an exceptionally good defenseman -- he talks a lot out there, he's easy to play with," Despres said of Letang. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Despres, 21, spent the early part of the abbreviated training camp paired with Letang, whom many pundits view as a Norris Trophy candidate. But when the season opened, it was Niskanen who was to the left of Letang.

Despres did, however, make the team in what was a somewhat surprising move only because he did not need to clear waivers to be sent back down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Ironically, the player who lost out on the Penguins' decision to keep Despres in the NHL, Brian Strait, was claimed by the Islanders, is taking a regular shift next to captain Mark Streit and will face his former team Tuesday.

A favorite of coach Dan Bylsma for obvious reasons -- Despres' pure skating and puckhandling skills are surpassed only by Letang among Penguins defensemen -- Despres averaged almost 10 minutes of ice time through Pittsburgh's first three games. However, he was a healthy scratch in the Penguins' two most recent contests in favor of more stay-at-home Ben Lovejoy.

"[Despres] played well for us; he did some good things when he was in the lineup," Bylsma said. "He wasn't reprimanded when he got out -- 'You're not playing well.' There was just some consistency in his game and decision-making that would make him better at both ends of the rink, defending and offensively. That's part of his maturation process."

A left-handed shot, Despres will play on the left side with right-handed Letang on the right. Niskanen, a righty, liked taking one-timers from Letang when he played on Letang's left side. Letang shrugged off any suggestion of a readjustment period to a new defense partner.

"It's a different partner, but we all play the same system, so it's going to be the same," Letang said.

"I think (Despres) did pretty well [in the first three games he played]. He just needs to focus on his defensive game. Everybody knows he's got great abilities and got great skills and has got a good shot and can skate really well. I think he just needs to get better defensively and learning the game better."

Bylsma said Despres can fill Niskanen's void at the point of the Penguins' second power-play unit. Still, even if he is usually paired Tuesday with Letang, Despres doesn't expect Letang-like minutes.

Letang played 29:10 Sunday in Ottawa, and veterans Brooks Orpik (28:28) and Paul Martin (31:06) also logged considerable time. Though the ice time numbers probably won't be that gaudy, expect the trend of those three playing significantly more than Despres, Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland to continue.

"We've got a lot of good defensemen on this team," Despres said. "We've got to get ice time to a lot of people."

Jake Gardiner has said he has felt well enough to play for a couple days now. Wednesday, he got the official green light from the doctor -- and from his coach.

Gardiner, the gifted young Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman who has been out since Dec. 8 with a concussion, is expected to make his season debut in the Pittsburgh Penguins' home opener Wednesday, the Leafs said on their website.

"I feel good," Gardiner said after the morning skate but before he received medical clearance to play. "Excited to be back with the Leafs."