At the Rink: Blues at Penguins

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Christian Ehrhoff is expected to return against the St. Louis Blues at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday.

Ehrhoff, who missed Pittsburgh's 3-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday because of undisclosed reasons, has been in and out of the lineup several times throughout the past two months. He participated in the Penguins' morning skate Tuesday.

The Penguins showed one line - center Sidney Crosby between left wing Chris Kunitz and right wing David Perron - during their skate. Coach Mike Johnston said he anticipates Ehrhoff playing with Pittsburgh using 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Crosby could be double shifted on the fourth line with the Penguins using one less forward, which Blues coach Ken Hitchcock joked would be "very unfair and something Mike would not do."

After leaving the game against the Washington Capitals with concussion-like symptoms on Jan. 28, Ehrhoff missed nearly a month before returning against Washington on Feb. 25. Despite playing 18:34 against the Capitals, Ehrhoff exited the lineup for an additional seven games, playing against the Boston Bruins on March 14.

Ehrhoff was available for four consecutive games, from March 14-19. If he plays Tuesday, it will mark the third time he has returned from injury in under two months.

With Ehrhoff's status in question, Pittsburgh recalled defenseman Derrick Pouliot from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League and reassigned forward Andrew Ebbett. Forward Evgeni Malkin's lower-body injury forced the Penguins to send Pouliot to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on March 14 because of a need for forward depth.

Pouliot could play forward, as he once did under Johnston while a member of the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League.

"[Being reassigned and recalled] is a part of being a young guy and I'm just trying to take it in stride," Pouliot said. "They kind of explained everything to me. It's just something you have to deal with and work through and things will work out."

Defenseman Ian Cole will face the Blues for the first time since being traded from St. Louis prior to the 2015 NHL Trade Deadline for defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and a seventh-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

"It's definitely weird," Cole said. "Saw some of the trainers earlier today. Had dinner with some of the guys last night, so it's definitely a little weird seeing the Blues paraphernalia around and it's not from my team anymore. So, it's a little weird, but I'm just going to try to approach it like any other game."

Bortuzzo, who also had dinner with a few of his former teammates and visited Penguins forward Beau Bennett's house Monday, echoed Cole's sentiments that he will treat facing Pittsburgh as he would any other game.

"It's an exciting time for myself," Bortuzzo said. "I get to play against an organization that treated me real well and I owe a lot to, and I have a lot of good friends over there. So, we're just going to take it in stride and hopefully settle in early."

Here are the projected lineups:

BLUES

Alexander Steen – David Backes – T.J. Oshie

Jaden Schwartz – Jori Lehtera – Vladimir Tarasenko

Chris Porter – Paul Stastny – Patrik Berglund

Steve Ott – Marcel Goc – Ryan Reaves

Petteri Lindbohm– Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester – Zbynek Michalek

Barret Jackman – Robert Bortuzzo

Jake Allen

Brian Elliott

Scratched: Olli Jokinen, Dmitrij Jaskin, Chris Butler

Injured: Carl Gunnarsson (upper body), Kevin Shattenkirk (abdomen)

PENGUINS

Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – David Perron

Blake Comeau – Brandon Sutter – Steve Downie

Daniel Winnik – Nick Spaling – Beau Bennett

Derrick Pouliot – Maxim Lapierre – Craig Adams

Paul Martin – Kris Letang

Christian Ehrhoff – Ben Lovejoy

Rob Scuderi – Ian Cole

Marc-Andre Fleury

Thomas Greiss

Scratched: None

Injured: Evgeni Malkin (lower body), Patric Hornqvist (undisclosed) Pascal Dupuis (blood clot), Olli Maatta (upper body)

Status report: Malkin and Hornqvist each skated prior to the morning skate, but did not return when the Penguins took the ice … Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Gunnarsson, who participated in the Blues' morning skate, will not play Tuesday, but could be ready by the weekend.

Who's hot: Crosby has scored three points in his past two games. His two points and one goal helped end Pittsburgh's four-game losing streak against Arizona on Saturday … Steen has scored one point, including the Blues' lone goal in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, in each of his past two games. He is second on St. Louis with 61 points, nine behind Tarasenko.