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Pens Place Letang On IR, Recall Despres

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – After extending their winning streak to 13 games, the Pittsburgh Penguins were forced to make a couple of roster moves on Wednesday.

According to the Penguins' official website, Kris Letang has been placed on injured reserve with what the team is calling a "lower-body injury."

Letang returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing the previous three games.

Head coach Dan Bylsma said Letang will miss the next seven to 10 days.

Earlier, RDS' Renaud Lavoie, tweeted that Letang's previous lower-body injury is still an issue, but he also suffered a broken toe against the Canadiens last night.

To replace him, the Penguins have recalled Simon Despres from their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre Scranton.

Despres has appeared in 24 games with the Penguins this season and has two goals, five assists and a plus-10 rating. He was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday due to the acquisitions of Brenden Morrow and Douglas Murray in addition to Letang's return.

The Penguins also announced that defenseman Robert Bortuzzo has been reassigned to the Baby Pens for a conditioning stint.

However, he will remain on the Penguins' 23-man roster during the assignment.

In 11 games with the parent club, Bortuzzo has one goal, one assist and a plus-3 rating.

Marc-Andre Fleury was also injured against the Canadiens and Bylsma said he is still getting evaluated. Tomas Vokoun was scheduled to start on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets anyway, but Bylsma did not rule out Fleury being able to dress as the backup goaltender.

Evgeni Malkin practiced with the team again today and is still listed as day-to-day.

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