Injured Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor are expected to be “game-time” decisions for the team’s regular season finale, a road contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Coach Mike Sullivan provided their statuses following a practice in Cranberry on Wednesday.
Pettersson became eligible to be activated from long-term injured reserve Wednesday. He has missed the past 12 games due to an undisclosed injury he suffered March 18.
During Wednesday’s practice, the left-hander skated on the team’s second defensive pairing alongside the right-handed Jeff Petry.
As for O’Connor, he has been a scratch for the past two games due to an undisclosed ailment he suffered during a 4-1 home win against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. During the first period, O’Connor was shaken up on a violent check by Wild defenseman Matt Dumba.
Throughout Wednesday’s practice, O’Connor worked on the left wing of the third line along with Ryan Poehling at center and Mikael Granlund on the right wing.
Notes:
• Forward Nick Bonino, who has missed the past 17 games due to a lacerated kidney he suffered March 9, participated in practice in a full-contact capacity but mostly served as a reserve along with forward Alex Nylander. Per Sullivan, Bonino has not been medically cleared to resume playing.
• The team’s lines and pairs were:
59 Jake Guentzel - 87 Sidney Crosby - 17 Bryan Rust
16 Jason Zucker - 71 Evgeni Malkin - 67 Rickard Rakell
10 Drew O’Connor - 25 Ryan Poehling - 64 Mikael Granlund
43 Danton Heinen - 77 Jeff Carter - 15 Josh Archibald
8 Brian Dumoulin - 58 Kris Letang
28 Marcus Pettersson - 26 Jeff Petry
73 P.O Joseph - 44 Jan Rutta
• The team also rotated a “fourth” defensive pairing involving:
7 Dmitry Kulikov - 52 Mark Freidman - 2 Chad Ruhwedel
The top power-play unit involved Crosby, Guentzel, Letang, Malkin and Rakell. The second power-play unit included Carter, Granlund, Petry, Rust and Zucker.
