Defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Juuso Riikola and forward Evan Rodrigues on Friday again were full participants at Pittsburgh Penguins practice. Though coach Mike Sullivan stopped short of declaring if any will return to game action Saturday, considering Dumoulin was in a prominent place among the pairings during line rushes is an encouraging sign.
Dumoulin (lower-body injury) skated with longtime partner Kris Letang on what has long formed the Penguins’ top defense pairing. Combined with the assigning of P.O Joseph to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a day after another defenseman (Mark Friedman) was injured, it’s not a leap of logic to assume Dumoulin could play Saturday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers.
“It’s a real boost to us to get him back,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “It’s been a while.”
“We probably have nine or 10 NHL defensemen,” #Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Wednesday after a practice in Cranberry Township that featured Mark Friedman and Brian Dumoulin. https://t.co/iklfRiSjDi
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) March 4, 2021
It’s been since Jan. 26 that Dumoulin has played. It was exactly one week prior to that since Riikola (upper-body) has played, and since Jan. 24 since Rodrigues (lower-body) was in the lineup.
Riikola skated on a fourth pairing with Chad Ruhwedel, and Rodrigues was part of a rotation of wingers on the fourth line. For each, that is likely where they’d be when healthy.
“(Dumoulin, Riikola and Rodrigues) skated today full contact and in a full capacity, so they are making progress there,” coach Mike Sullivan said after Friday’s practice at PPG Paints Arena. “We will see how they respond and will visit with our medical staff and make (lineup) decisions accordingly.”
A day after leaving a game upon absorbing a hit early in the second period against the Flyers, Friedman was not at practice Friday. Sullivan had no specific update other than he was “continuing to be evaluated.”
