As the Pittsburgh Penguins took the ice Wednesday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena for practice, there appeared to be a good sign in the recovery of forward Teddy Blueger, whose undisclosed upper-body injury has prevented him from playing since late September.
Blueger began practice by skating in a yellow jersey as opposed to the non-contact gray he has donned of late.
Practicing with no restrictions Wednesday would have been a fair indication that Blueger would be available Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings for his season debut.
But Blueger quickly switched his jersey from yellow to gray, causing a bit of confusion as to his status.
“I would not anticipate him being in the lineup tomorrow night, just based on where he’s at,” coach Mike Sullivan said after practice. “But we’ll make that decision tomorrow.”
As for the jersey switcheroo, Sullivan’s explanation proved mundane for those anticipating some miscommunication between Blueger and the Penguins’ medical staff.
“We changed the jerseys before we went out,” Sullivan said. “We originally had them in lines, and we put them into power-play/penalty-kill jerseys before we got out. That might of had something to do with it.”
Last season, Blueger played 65 games, posting 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists).
Lines stay status quo
Wednesday’s practice did not feature any deviations to lines or defensive pairings.
Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell comprised the first line, followed by a second line of Jason Zucker, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust.
The Penguins third line continued to feature Danton Heinen, Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen, while Brock McGinn, Ryan Poehling and Josh Archibald rounded out the fourth line.
The Penguins defensive pairings were: Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin; Marcus Pettersson and Jeff Petry; and P.O Joseph and Jan Rutta. Additionally, seventh defenseman Chad Ruhwedel skated briefly with Blueger as a makeshift fourth defensive unit.
The Penguins power-play units also stayed the same, with Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Rust and Letang manning the first unit. Carter, Rakell, Heinen, Zucker and Petry formed the second. Blueger subbed in and out of the team’s penalty-kill squads, sharing the ice with Dumoulin, McGinn and Rutta. Ruhwedel also got some work on the penalty kill, skating alongside McGinn, Poehling and Dumoulin.
Working 4-on-3
After blowing a 2-0 third-period lead Monday night in Montreal, the Penguins hoped to hold on for two points in overtime. But just under two minutes into the overtime, Petry took a cross-checking penalty (his third penalty of the game) that gave Montreal a man-advantage.
Per NHL overtime rules, play shifted from a 3-on-3 to a 4-on-3 power-play for the Canadiens. As Petry’s penalty neared an end, the Canadiens scored the winning goal with 1:51 remaining, as Sean Monahan fed Kirby Dach at the crease for an easy tip-in.
On Wednesday, the Penguins took time to practice a 4-on-3 scenario. Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel and Letang comprised the team’s first four-man power-play unit, with Dumoulin, Poehling and McGinn defending. Carter, Rakell, Rust and Petry formed the second 4-on-3 power-play unit, with Kapanen, Archibald and Rutta serving as the three-man penalty-kill.
