Brian Dumoulin was back on the ice for practice Monday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. But will he be on the ice for the playoff opener Wednesday at the Nassau Coliseum?
“We will see,” said the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman, who is recovering from a lower-body injury. “It’s day by day, and you don’t want to rush it. I don’t want anything to happen where I get setbacks or stuff like that.
“I hope, and I want to play Wednesday. But if that’s not the case, that’s not the case.”
The Penguins open their first-round series at 7:30 p.m. against the New York Islanders. Less than a week ago, there was reason to think the Penguins might begin the postseason without either of their top-pairing defensemen. But four days after Kris Letang returned from an upper-body injury that forced him to miss 15 of 18 games, Dumoulin was on the ice with teammates and cleared for contact in practice.
“I’d skated (on my own) the last couple days, so it was good to do it again,” Dumoulin said. “Just taking it day by day right now, but it’s good to go through a full practice and be out there with them and preparing for playoff mode.”
Dumoulin missed the final three games of the regular season because of an injury suffered March 31 against Carolina.
Forward Zach Aston-Reese (lower-body, out since March 10) also returned to practice. Coach Mike Sullivan grouped Aston-Reese and Dumoulin when giving and official update.
“They participated in a full capacity today,” Sullivan said. “Their status is day-to-day, and we’ll take each day as it comes and make decisions accordingly.”
Some contradictory clues added intrigue to whether Dumoulin is ready for Wednesday. Supporting he won’t was he took line rushes on a fourth pairing with the likely-to-be-scratched Zach Trotman.
But on the plus side for Dumoulin was he did not wear a noncontact jersey. That theoretically puts him ahead of Letang when he returned to practice Wednesday, and Letang played Thursday against Detroit.
Still, as big of a game as that was — the Penguins had yet to clinch a playoff berth — it won’t match the heightened speed and intensity of a playoff game.
“Good thing it hasn’t been too long. It’s not like it’s been something crazy,” Dumoulin said of his missed time. “But, obviously, playoffs is a little harder. … It’s gonna be fun, and I want to get back as soon as I can.”
If Dumoulin is cleared to play, it presents Sullivan with a good problem: Which defenseman sits? The only two who wouldn’t merit consideration are Letang and Justin Schultz. Of the other four possibilities, only Olli Maatta was a healthy scratch this season (once in October). And Maatta played all 82 games last season.
Marcus Pettersson played 84 games this season (he came over in a December trade), Jack Johnson played all 82 for the Penguins and Erik Gudbranson has played all 19 games since he was acquired at the trade deadline.
In other words, a quality defenseman who is playing well will be watching the start of the playoffs from the press box.
“There’s just confidence in all eight guys,” Dumoulin said. “Whoever is out there can get the job done.”
