Penguins defenseman Filip Kral wants 'one more shot in the NHL'

TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. Filip Kral has a history with Ville Koivunen. And it isn't necessarily rooted in a good place.

Or however one might label the place below Koivunen's belt. "We played against each other in the playoffs in the Liiga (Finland's top league)," Kral said. "I slashed him between the legs.



He doesn't like me because of that." All of this was said in jest following the Pittsburgh Penguins practice Tuesday in Cranberry. Kral, a defenseman, held court with reporters, as Koivunen, a forward in a neighboring stall, giggled over their encounter last season.

At the moment, the rookies are teammates on the Penguins' NHL roster after skating with one another most of this season in the American Hockey League as members of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Kral was recalled to the NHL roster Monday with one game remaining on the schedule this season. With some of the Penguins' incumbent defensemen dealing with bumps and bruises, Kral was summoned as something of an insurance policy to ensure the team will have a full complement of blueliners available for the regular-season finale, a home contest against the rival Washington Capitals on Thursday.

Given how late of a stage of the season the NHL Penguins are in, Kral was caught off guard, albeit in a pleasant fashion, by the...

Seth Rorabaugh.