Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk, already sidelined due to an undisclosed “lower-body” injury, is also recovering from an unspecified allergic reaction.
On Wednesday, TSN reported Galchenyuk suffered a spider bite and that his reaction has delayed his recovery from the injury he initially suffered during training camp.
“It’s not confirmed that it was a spider bite,” coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday. “He had an allergic reaction. He went to the emergency room on his own and he was treated for an allergic reaction. Certainly our doctors followed it up. That’s just the details that I know.”
Sullivan said the reaction did not alter the time frame for Galchenyuk to recovery from his injury.
The primary return in an offseason trade which sent popular forward Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes, Galchenyuk has been limited to three games and two assists this season. He is currently on injured reserve.
Forward Jared McCann resumed practicing in Cranberry on Thursday. He missed Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche due to an undisclosed injury.
“He had a good practice,” Sullivan said. “His status is the same. He’s day to day so he’ll be a game-time decision (Friday). But certainly his practice today was encouraging.”
“A lot better,” McCann said. “Just kind of a nagging injury that’s been bothering for me a bit here.”
The Penguins’ lines and pairs in practice were:
Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Dominik Simon
Dominik Kahun – Jared McCann – Patric Hornqvist
Zach Aston-Reese – Teddy Blueger – Brandon Tanev
Adam Johnson – Joseph Blandisi – Sam Laffery
Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson – Justin Schultz
Erik Gudbranson, Jack Johnson, John Marino, Juuso Riikola and Chad Ruhwedel rotated on a third defensive pairing.
