PITTSBURGH (93.7 the Fan) It's been a battle not just on the ice, but off the ice for the Pittsburgh Penguins so far in the 2021-22 season.
As injuries piled up in the first few games, so did a number of COVID cases within the teams' players.
Early on Jake Guentzel and Zach Aston-Reese tested positive for the virus, later Jeff Carter would be put in protocol and so would Tristan Jarry with a false positive.
Heading to the Penguins first weekend in the month of November, they were down Sidney Crosby, Marcus Pettersson, Chad Ruhwedel, Brian Dumoulin, and even head coach Mike Sullivan all for COVID protocol.
On Tuesday in Chicago, Pettersson and Ruhwedel both cleared the protocol and began practicing away from the team.
Wednesday the two defenders rejoined the team and took rushes during practice.
With those two taking rushes, it seems they are a step closer to making the lineup.
