As the Pittsburgh Penguins got their Friday morning practice underway in Cranberry, there were a few noticeable unexpected absences.

Wingers Jake Guentzel and Josh Archibald did not partake in practice, with coach Mike Sullivan relaying Guentzel stayed home sick. Archibald, per Sullivan, had a planned maintenance day.

More expected was center Jeff Carter’s lack of participation. Since leaving the Penguins’ Oct. 29 loss at Seattle, Carter has neither skated at a practice nor in a game.

Following Friday’s session, Sullivan listed Carter as day-to-day with an undisclosed lower-body injury.

All other players were present.

Blueger stays close-lipped

Saturday will be the earliest eligible return date for winger Teddy Blueger, who was placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) last month retroactive to Oct. 11. LTIR stipulates that a player miss at least 10 NHL games and 24 days of the season.

Thus, Blueger may well make his 2022-23 season debut Saturday night when the Penguins host the Seattle Kraken.

Having steadily made progress in practice over the last several weeks, Blueger on Friday centered the Penguins’ third line and was switching in on both of the team’s penalty-kill units.

Sullivan did not speculate as to Blueger’s status ahead of Saturday, and the 28-year-old himself was tight-lipped on the subject.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Blueger said. “I don’t know what I can really say about tomorrow and all that, but yeah, I’m feeling better. Progress has been better.”

Lines and pairings

Given the absences of Carter, Guentzel and Archibald, the Penguins made some alterations to their lines.

Danton Heinen was bumped up to top left winger alongside Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. Heinen occupied the same spot when Guentzel was unavailable for the majority of the Penguins’ five-game road trip to close out November.

The second line had Evgeni Malkin centering Jason Zucker and Rickard Rakell. Blueger took Carter’s spot on the third line, flanked by Brock McGinn to his left and Kasperi Kapanen to his right.

The fourth line featured Sam Poulin at center with Ryan Poehling at left wing and Drew O’Connor on the right.

Defensively, Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang remained together, as did Marcus Pettersson and Jeff Petry. P.O Joseph and Chad Ruhwedel alternated in with Jan Rutta.

The Penguins’ first power-play unit was made up of Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Rust and Rakell. The second power-play unit featured Joseph, Petry, Heinen, Zucker and Poulin.

Seeking different energy

The Penguins began practice with some 4-on-4 drills, which looked routine enough until a closer look revealed every player was playing with an opposite-handed stick.

Rakell and Rust managed to score goals in non-dominant stick fashion, to the applause of their teammates.

“I think sometimes when you play a game like that, it brings back a child-like enthusiasm amongst a group of adults,” Sullivan said. “Sometimes when you start a practice like that, it sets the mood or the tone for the rest of the practice from an energy and an enthusiasm standpoint. We felt like today that was something that would be productive for us.”

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