Forward Jason Zucker fights in return to Penguins' lineup

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jason Zucker returned to the lineup Saturday in a 6-3 home loss to the Washington Capitals.

Zucker had missed the previous three games after he presumably aggravated a previous core muscle injury during a 4-3 overtime road win against the Minnesota Wild on March 31.

In total, Zucker had been sidelined for 40 of the Penguins’ previous 42 games before Saturday because of the ailment that had bothered him since December and required surgery to correct in late January.

Primarily deployed on the left wing of the team’s second line with Evgeni Malkin at center and Rickard Rakell at right wing, Zucker’s only entry on the scoresheet was the fighting major he recorded after tussling with Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk at 11 minutes, 35 seconds of the third period.

In total, Zucker recorded 9:20 of ice time on 12 shifts and blocked one shot.

Following the game, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan offered something of an inert assessment of Zucker’s play.

“He was fine,” Zucker said. “It’s going to take (Zucker) a few games to get up to speed. It’s not easy. He’s jumping on a moving train, so to speak. So it’s not an easy challenge. But coming back, I thought he played pretty solid.”

Penguins forward Sidney Crosby and defenseman John Marino also returned to the lineup after missing Thursday’s 3-0 road loss to the New York Rangers because of undisclosed illnesses.

The Penguins have had a handful of players miss games or practices in recent weeks because of illnesses the team has not identified beyond noting they are not related to covid-19.

“Not too bad,” Marino said when asked how he felt Saturday. “Everyone’s done it I’m sure at one point of their career. There’s other team’s going though it, too. Not much to say about that.”