San Jose Sharks defenseman Jan Rutta (undisclosed) has come off Injured Reserve and is available for selection for Sunday's contest against the Rangers. The Czech blue-liner has been out for five games with an unspecified ailment. In 19 games this season, Rutta has contributed one assist offensively while totaling 10 hits and 36 blocks without the puck. He's projected to skate with Nikita Okhotiuk on the third defensive pairing.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta is ready to go Friday against the Jets despite missing Thursday's practice. The Czech blue-liner had a maintenance day ahead of a busy stretch of three games in four nights. Rutta sits on only seven points through 40 games but has played a big part on the defensive end with 51 hits and 51 blocks. He's been logging big minutes lately on the first defensive pairing, with Kris Letang (personal/lower body) and Jeff Petry (upper body) unavailable.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta exited Wednesday's 4-1 win over Washington with an upper-body injury. He managed to get just 8:55 of action in, recording two penalty minutes and two hits. Pierre-Olivier Joseph also left with a lower-body injury, so the Penguins impressively ended a seven-game slide with only four defensemen. Both players are getting evaluated to determine the severity of their injuries. With the team back in action Friday night against the Maple Leafs, Rutta and Joseph have very little time to recover. They aren't the flashiest blue-liners in the world, but always get the job done and Rutta is among the team leaders in both hits and blocks. The two have also chipped in a bit of the offensive front this season, picking up four points each.
Jan Rutta Surprises With Two Points in Loss Saturday
Tampa Bay defenseman Jan Rutta found the offensive stroke on Saturday. Rutta scored a goal and added an assist in the 5-3 home loss on Saturday. Rutta just had the one shot, one hit, and one block. He played nearly 20 minutes in all. The defenseman came into the game with just three points in 14 games. He doubled his goal total and was a post away from nearly tripling it. That is the type of effort Rutta needs more of if he wants to see an increased role in the lineup.
