Former Buckeye battles for spot with defending champs
By J. Justin Boggs, Columbus Wired - (Ashleigh Ignelzi contributed to the story)

Former Ohio State Buckeyes defenseman Nate Guenin, now with the Pittsburgh Penguins, is in the midst of trying to earn his first full-time spot in the NHL. The 26-year-old who grew up just miles from Mellon Arena has played in 12 NHL games over the course of three seasons.

Guenin scored a goal late in the second period in Thursday’s game against the Blue Jackets to cut what was a Columbus 3-1 lead in half. This was unofficially Guenin’s first goal in the NHL.

“Jay (McKee) made a real nice pass to me in the slot,” he said. “I think their goaltender was screened by one of their players and the puck found the back of the net."

Guenin is vying for the last defensive spot with the club along with 27-year-old Deryk Engelland.

“Nate is a hard guy to play against,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said, “is a good defensive defenseman, good on the (penalty kill), and Derek is similar in the regard; maybe a little tougher. But they have both done well in the training camp and this game was another opportunity for them to show their game.”

Guenin was a teammate during the 2002-03 season with current Blue Jackets forward R.J. Umberger at Ohio State. Both players also came through the Philadelphia Flyers system around the same time, and both grew up in the Pittsburgh area.

“It was fun, we’ve been friends for a long time,” Umberger said about Guenin. “I tried to give it to him every time I could, a little chirp in his ear but I thought he had a great game tonight. He’s making a case for himself, he scored one of their goals, I’m sure he’s excited to play in Columbus where he went to school.”

“He is turning into one hell of a player,” Guenin said about Umberger. “He plays both ends of the ice, penalty kill, power play. He does it all. He is a guy you want on your team.”

Flu impacts Jackets

Forward Kristian Huselius and defenseman Mike Commodore have both been stricken with the flu. It has not been reported whether their strain of the flu is that of the Swine Flu (formerly known as H1N1). Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock said the pair will not rejoin the team until after the preseason concludes on Sunday.

Crosby goes down

Pittsburgh Penguins all-star forward Sidney Crosby left Thursday’s game in the first period with a mild groin injury. Crosby said following the game that he was fine and just needed some rest.

“It has been tight for a couple days,” Crosby said. “Just went out there in warmed up and it was better to stay off of it.”

Crosby added that he missed five games last season with a similar injury but said this injury was not as bad and he is hoping only to be out a few days.

“It's training camp and you are getting into shape and not always feeling well,” Blysma said. “It was more precautionary than anything else. We will see as the days go on.”

Skoula added to depleted defensive core

In Thursday’s victory over Pittsburgh, the Blue Jackets skated with just one of their top six defensemen as the injury/flu bug has struck the defense of the team the hardest. Marc Methot, Rostislav Klesla, and Fedor Tyutin are expected to rejoin the group over the weekend and play at least one game each according to Hitchcock.

Martin Skoula was added to the team’s preseason roster and will join the squad in their upcoming preseason battle against the Boston Bruins. The veteran defensemen has played the last four seasons with the Minnesota Wild. In the last three seasons, he has only missed four games. In 724 career games played, Skoula has 185 points. He has also appeared in 79 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

“We want to play Skoula in (both of the remaining preseason games),” Hitchcock said. “We want to give him a good look to see where he is at.”