The Pittsburgh Penguins keep getting bitten by the injury bug, but there is some light on the horizon
Another day, another injury for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
But, this time, they may at least have someone coming back into the fold.
After a 7-0 rout of the Philadelphia Flyers on opening night, the Penguins took to the practice ice on Thursday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Pa. Off the ice was center Blake Lizotte, who sustained a lower-body injury during Wednesday's game and is being evaluated.
However, back on the ice - a sight for sore eyes sick of the Penguins' injury curse - was 19-year-old center Ben Kindel, who began the season on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
After practice, head coach Dan Muse said they're taking it day by day with Kindel but that he was a full participant.
"It was definitely a big positive that he's out there as a full participant," Muse said. "But, we still have to see. He's been out for a little while, so now, let's just see how things respond. It was a good sign, but we still have to have some conversations today. We're not going to change anything until we get some feedback, until he gets to meet with the medical staff.
"We've got another practice today tomorrow, which is good. I thought he looked good out there, which is a really positive sign."
Kindel was initially injured during Pittsburgh's first pre-season tilt against the Buffalo Sabres, when he didn't come back for the second period. He said that he re-aggravated a prior injury on a play around the net.
"On one of the first plays of that game [against] Buffalo, I was going to the net, and I kind of caught my skate on the ice," Kindel said. "So just trying to do whatever I can to get back."
The Penguins next play Saturday, when they will face the Montreal Canadiens in their home opener at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.
Other practice notes:
- When training camp opened this season, the Penguins were running a third line of Andrei Kuzmenko, Kindel, and Bryan Rust. The other two are still non-roster or injured, with Kindel the only one back in the mix so far.
However, given the performance of Wednesday's makeshift third line of Filip Hallander, Hendrix Lapierre, and Ville Koivunen, they chose to keep those three intact and have Kindel center the fourth line in place of Lizotte. Each player on that line scored a goal against the Flyers, and they combined for six points.
"When you try things, there's always an educated guess going into it just based on the player, based on, maybe, how they play the game and how they read off of each other," Muse said. "So, we were hoping that would be the case. They did a really good job."
It will be interesting to see how the Penguins work around players getting healthier and re-entering the lineup, but for now, they're rolling with the chemistry.
- Rutger McGroarty was rotating in with both the fourth line for Elmer Soderblom and the final defensive "pairing" with Ilya Solovyov. He made the opening night roster but was scratched for the opener.
He was sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) after practice concluded. It was probably preferable for him and the organization that he see regular playing time as opposed to trying to crack a lineup where there's, simply, no room for him right now.
McGroarty is an easy guy to root for. Hopefully, he takes this assignment and blows it out of the water so the Penguins are left with no choice but to bring him back.
- Sidney Crosby, in case anyone was concerned, is still a really big deal in Canadian media.
After Thursday's practice, a small group of Pittsburgh-based media asked Crosby a few quick questions, then the horde of Montreal-based media came in and kept the captain for a few minutes longer.
As long as Crosby is still playing the game of hockey, he will always be a draw for visiting Canadian media. These folks only get a few chances per year to speak with him, and you can tell that they revel in those chances.
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