Forward Zach Aston-Reese back at Penguins practice, hopeful to play in playoff opener
Zach Aston-Reese returned to Pittsburgh Penguins practice in a full-contact capacity Monday, but the team stopped short of saying he will play in the playoff opener Wednesday.
“Right now, I am just day-to-day,” Aston-Reese said. “So we will see how I feel (Tuesday) morning.”
The Penguins open their first-round playoff series at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the New York Islanders.
Aston-Reese (lower-body injury) has not played since a March 10 win against the Boston Bruins.
During drills, Aston-Reese split time with Garrett Wilson as the right wing on a fourth line alongside Matt Cullen and Teddy Blueger. Coach Mike Sullivan, though, refused to tip his hand as to whether Monday’s line combinations would carry over into games.
Sullivan lumped Aston-Reese and defenseman Brian Dumoulin together when providing the official update to the status for each. Dumoulin also returned to practice Monday. He had missed the final three regular-season games because of a lower-body injury.
“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.”
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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