Sidney Crosby was not at Pittsburgh Penguins practice Wednesday. But everybody else was.
A day after being placed on the NHL’s covid-19 list and missing a win against the Philadelphia Flyers, Crosby sat out Wednesday’s practice in Cranberry Township. Still, the news regarding participation and availability largely was positive for the Penguins because a trio of injured players returned to practice.
Top-pairing defenseman Brian Dumoulin (lower-body) and forwards Mark Jankowski (upper-body) and Evan Rodrigues (lower-body) were on the ice and had no apparent restrictions, other than, perhaps, reduced roles with regard to their pairings or lines they skated on.
Dumoulin has missed the past 14 games, Rodrigues the past 15 and Jankowski the past three. Jankowski’s injury apparently was the result of a hit from the Washington Capitals’ Tom Wilson during a game last week.
Dumoulin was not skating with his usual partner, Kris Letang, and instead was rotating in and out of a third pairing with Cody Ceci and others.
Rodrigues, likewise, was taking turns as part of the fourth line, but Jankoiwski, by all indications, was a constant center of that unit.
After practice, coach Mike Sullivan said there was “no change in status” for any of the three injured players.
”They took full contact, and that’s the first full practice they’ve had with the team,” Sullivan said, referencing Dumoulin and Rodrigues specifically. “So that’s a real encouraging step and a big step from their standpoint, and we will update you as we go but, at this point, status hasn’t changed.”
It remains unknown if Crosby has tested positive for coronavirus or if his status is the result of contact tracing, nor has the team revealed a timetable on his return to action.
Also absent from the ice Wednesday was assistant coach Todd Reirden, also a result of covid concerns.
Note: Forwards Anthony Angello, Josh Currie and Drew O’Connor were re-assigned to the Penguins’ taxi squad, forward Frederick Gaudreau was bumped from the taxi squad to the Penguins’ AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and wing Jason Zucker was transferred to the longterm injured reserve list. Zucker is out because of a lower-body injury suffered last week.
