Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby has resumed skating as he recovers from a suspected right leg injury he suffered while skating for Canada during the Olympics last Monday.
Crosby has been on the ice for a handful of days, including on Thursday prior to this team’s morning skate in Cranberry.
The Penguins formally designated him to injured reserve Feb. 25 and announced he would be sidelined for a minimum of four weeks.
Coach Dan Muse did not offer a substantive update on Crosby’s status but reiterated the obvious.
“He is skating,” Muse said. “That’s just part of his return to play (process). It’s a good step.”
Entering Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins were 2-1-1 since Crosby landed on injured reserve.
Re-centering Rakell
Penguins forward Rickard Rakell is slated to return to center to open Thursday’s game after primarily being deployed as a left winger during a 2-1 road loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
For the first three games of Crosby’s convalescence, Rakell largely replaced him as a center, offering mixed results. Of note, he struggled in the faceoff circle, going 7 for 27 (25.9%) over that trio of contests.
Rakell’s movement to the port side on Tuesday wasn’t necessarily rooted in his futility in the faceoff circle.
Rather, it was part of a chain reaction based on fourth-line center Blake Lizotte being scratched due to an undisclosed injury. That triggered a series of changes throughout the forward ranks, particularly at the center stations.
Rookie center Ben Kindel was promoted from the third line to the second line (in place of Rakell) while veteran Kevin Hayes, a regular healthy scratch, replaced Kindel on the third line. As for the fourth line, Connor Dewar, typically operating on the left wing, replaced Lizotte as a center.
With Lizotte expected to return for Thursday’s contest, the Penguins displayed the typical lines they operated with during the first three games of Crosby’s absence, including Rakell at center.
“In Boston, things changed a little bit there in the sense that (Lizotte was) out,” Muse said. “Things shuffle around a little bit. You go back to (Sunday’s 5-0 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights) where we had these lines … that was one where there were some good things, obviously, we felt we did with those lines. The change (against Boston) was primarily because we had a player who was unavailable and we shuffled things a little bit because of that.”
Further evaluation for Hallander
Penguins rookie forward Filip Hallander was recalled from a conditioning assignment with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Feb. 27 and has remained on injured reserve as a result of a blood clot that has sidelined him since early November.
There doesn’t appear to be any kind of definitive time frame for him to return to the NHL lineup, at least not one the team is willing to offer.
“Just further evaluation,” Muse said when asked for clarity on Hallander’s status. “Just being with what the injury was, obviously, sensitive … still being evaluated. Hopefully, we’ll have an update on that one soon.”
During his stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Hallander was primarily deployed as a left winger, appearing in three games and scoring one goal.
Hallander has not played for the NHL club since Nov. 3. In 13 NHL contests, he has four points (one goal, three assists) while averaging 13:09.
