The Penguins, losers of six straight games, could be getting back a key depth piece and penalty killer Saturday night when they host Seattle at PPG Paints Arena.
Forward Teddy Blueger, yet to play in a regular season game this year, went through practice Friday.
“The progress has been, I guess, better the last week or two, so that’s been good,” Blueger said.
Blueger has been out with an undisclosed upper-body injury since late September.
“It’s been hard not to get discouraged,” he said. “I think it's probably the most frustrating injury I've ever dealt with in my career as far as the timeline and how, I guess, I expected to go versus how it's playing out right now.
“It's been a real challenge, like mentally and staying with it. I know it's only been ten or eleven weeks, but It feels like half the season has gone by.”
A year ago, Blueger totaled nine goals and 19 assists over 65 games. But he also led the Penguins’ forwards in average time on ice while shorthanded. Pittsburgh could use him. They've allowed a power play goal in nine of their 11 games.
Now, it’s Blueger's hope that he can find his form again after what appears to be a longer road to recovery than anticipated.
“I think anytime you're coming back from injury, I think you maybe battle some self doubt and stuff and you haven't really been as much as practice, like full contact and all that,” he said. “
"There's not that much contact in practice so I think, yeah, there's a bit of a challenge and I think it's important to have a good start and kind of get your feet underneath you and just feel comfortable and just play and not think about it.”
Hear more from Teddy Blueger here:
The good and bad injury report
Three Penguins players missed Friday’s skate in Cranberry.
Jake Guentzel, Jeff Carter and Josh Archibald all were absent.
Luckily, it sounds as if the three situations aren’t overly serious, according to Sullivan.
Guentzel missed practice with an illness. Carter is day-to-day with a lower-body injury — he did not play Wednesday against Buffalo. And Archibald received a maintenance day.
Other hands
The Penguins, with a loss Saturday, will have their first seven-game losing streak since Sidney Crosby’s rookie season.
So, it’s no surprise that the team may not be in the best of mental spaces right now, particularly so early in the season.
Because of that, Mike Sullivan added a wrinkle to practice Friday.
The team skated in 4-on-4 games, but players were forced to use opposite-handed sticks throughout.
“Sometimes when you play a game like that, it brings back a childlike enthusiasm amongst a group of adults,” Sullivan said.
“When you start a practice like that, it sets the mood or the tone for the rest of the practice from an energy or an enthusiasm standpoint. We felt like, today, that was something that would be productive for us.”