Penguins Dominik Simon ‘dodges bullet,’ feels well at practice day after hip injury
Looking back a day after the fact, Dominik Simon was able to concede that he feared the worst when he suffered what he indicated was a hip injury during Sunday’s game.
“Oh yeah, definitely (dodged a bullet),” the Pittsburgh Penguins forward said Monday from the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. “I was worried. I wasn’t thinking ahead. I was just hoping it was going to go well. And (now) I think it’s nothing too bad, so I am happy about that.”
So are the Penguins, who came perilously close to having to play without either of Sidney Crosby’s wingers. Jake Guentzel had shoulder surgery three weeks ago.
Simon did not play over the final 15 minutes of Sunday’s 4-3 win against the Boston Bruins. Simon, who had a goal earlier in that game, said efforts were made to get him back into the game late to help a team that was already down a forward after Dominik Kahun suffered a second-period concussion.
“The trainers, they help you out,” Simon said. “You don’t want anything too bad to happen that will (keep him out of the lineup) long, so I tried to come back with some pain medicine, but I didn’t feel like I would help the team.”
Simon felt much differently less than 24 hours later during practice.
“I feel way better,” Simon said.
Though Simon stopped short of definitively saying he absolutely will play during Tuesday’s game at the Philadelphia Flyers, coach Mike Sullivan was left little ambiguity when asked if Simon would.
“Yes,” Sullivan said.
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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