Brent Johnson injured in loss to Leafs, time to turn to John Curry?

by FrankD on Sep 23, 2009 9:55 AM EDT

It wouldn't be a preseason if someone didn't get hurt, right? Looks like the Pens may be without Brent Johnson for a while after he injured his knee after a collision in the crease last night with Toronto's Tyler Bozak. GhostWalker40, as always, has some quality highlights available in the fanposts. You can see Johnson's injury around the 3:20 mark.

What does this mean for Johnson, a guy who's had a good share of injuries over the past few years? More importantly, what does this mean for the Pens' backup man and will it be John Curry? Take the jump to help dissect this one.

Johnson played the remainder of the second but did not start the third. He also failed to join teammates on the bench, something that would often draw concern. However coach Dan Bylsma had this to say:

"We will see (about Johnson's status). It was more precautionary than anything."
Trib-Review

That's promising at least, but Johnson's recent bout with injuries leaves some room for speculation. Here's a brief rundown of Johnson's injuries since 2005:

May 13, 2009	Missed 30 regular season and 14 playoff games (hip surgery).
February 3, 2009	Hip surgery, sidelined indefinitely.
January 27, 2009	Missed 2 games (undisclosed).
January 19, 2009	Undisclosed, day-to-day.
January 1, 2009	Missed 3 games (illness).
December 26, 2008	Illness, day-to-day.
January 12, 2008	Recalled from Hershey (AHL).
January 10, 2008	Missed 5 games (knee injury) and assigned to Hershey (AHL).
December 29, 2007	Knee injury, sidelined indefinitely.
February 8, 2007	Missed 4 games (undisclosed).
February 1, 2007	Undisclosed, day-to-day.
January 12, 2007	Re-signed by the Washington Capitals to a two-year contract.
July 1, 2006	Re-signed by the Washington Capitals.
January 4, 2006	Missed 2 games (groin).
December 31, 2005	Groin, day-to-day.

Goalies put a lot of wear and tear on there bodies, so the occasional lower-body injury (groin, knee ham string, etc) is expected. However after returning from 08/09's season-ending hip surgery, this is likely the last thing Johnson needed to have interfering with his play.

Do the Pens turn to John Curry, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender who has more or less worked his way through the rankings at a healthy pace? It would seem like the logical move, yes? After all, it's not like the Pens really have the money to go shopping with. Promoting from within may be the only solution, but one that should not be looked down upon. For all he's shown in the preseason, Curry has the ability to stop big shots when needed. He got hung out to dry a bit against Montreal on Monday, but that was more a poor defensive effort than it was Curry's goaltending. These things happen in preseason play so they don't happen in the regular season.

I'd like to add that this is all based on sheer speculation. There's been nothing to confirm whether or not Johnson will return within the week, month or what have you. However, given the circumstances, I'm sure we're not the only ones considering options here.

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Comments

It should have been Curry all along.

by PensFan024 on Sep 23, 2009 10:47 AM EDT reply actions

Fleury’s gotten hurt two years in a row now….Curry looks like a solid goalie, but he’s got 2 NHL starts in his career. Adding a veteran was needed, if MAF gets hurt you can’t let Curry-Thiessen be the guys the Pens rely in to stay in playoff positioning.

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by Hooks Orpik on Sep 23, 2009 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions

I felt the same all along. Johnson is injury prone. Even if anything did/does happen to Fleury, it won’t be long before Curry had the start anyway. Three deep in goaltending. Sounds a lot like Ty Conklin, huh?

But I agree with Hooks, Curry is still a bit green. A few more starts here and there should clear that right up

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by FrankD on Sep 23, 2009 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Besides, there aren’t many options left for the Pens right now anyway. With any luck, Johnson’s injury won’t sideline him for too long and Fleury stays healthy.

by bbill on Sep 23, 2009 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions

I called this one last nite during the League B draft. I still DO NOT understand why a) the refs allowed the goal, b) why a Pens player didnt bash Bozak’s face in, c) why a Pens player didn’t run into Toskala.

A couple minutes after, one of the Pens enforcers (Rupp, someone I forget) had the chance to hit Toskala as he came out behind the net… They did nothing. Where is the heart? It’s a disgrace no one made the Leafs answer for that hit!

by biggoron on Sep 23, 2009 11:21 AM EDT reply actions