Sidney Crosby, was on the ice Monday morning but is still not practicing with the Penguins so he will miss Tuesday's game against Dallas at PPG Paints Arena. There is, however, another important member of the team who could finally make his regular season debut.
Defenseman Mike Matheson, who has been trying to shake off a lower body injury, was on the ice with teammates after taking part in the morning skate Saturday. Coach Mike Sullivan did not rule him out for the Stars game.
"We'll see how he responds overnight, but he had a strong practice today," Sullivan said. "He skated with (conditioning coach) Ty Hennes before the team practice then he participated in a full capacity with the team.
I spoke with Mike after the practice just to get his feedback on how he felt (and) he reiterated to me that he felt really strong. We'll see how he responds overnight but we're encouraged.
Translation: there is a good chance Matheson will play which would be fine by him. "I felt good out there," Matheson said. "I skated before practice then in practice, too. I haven't had a chance to talk with the medical staff yet but I felt good."
Matheson worked with the second power play unit alongside John Marino while during 5-on-5 drills he was paired with Chad Ruhwedel. Marino may very well end up being Matheson's regular partner but Sullivan says easing him back in with Ruhwedel should help. "After having missed a few games to come back into the line-up with the priority being an element of simplicity to his game there's no better guy to do it with than Chad," Sullivan reasoned.
Matheson agreed that keeping it simple is the way to go, at least for right now. "Just not try to do too much, set your expectations differently" he said. "There are some plays that you see when you've been playing for three weeks straight that you might not see the first game back so simplifying is really important in that sense."
Matheson admits it was tough being patient during the rehab process, especially after missing the start of last season as well, and says that also goes for the games themselves. "Another part of it is being patient with yourself that first game," he pointed out, "building your game up from the first shift and not trying to win the game in every shift."
Here is what Sullivan had to say about other players and their status –
Sidney Crosby Skated before practice in uniform - "He will not play tomorrow (Tuesday)"
Evgeni Malkin Skated before practice, no uniform - "It was his first time on (the ice); anytime a player is back on the ice that's significant. He was in a track suit (so) it's his first step; he's been working extremely hard, certainly that's a significant step for him."
Bryan Rust Left Thursday's game in Florida with an undisclosed injury and was placed on IR, retro to the 14th. – "Rusty is week-to-week at this point so we will update you guys on a weekly basis, I guess, that probably makes more sense. That's where he's at right now."
Mark Friedman Left practice - "He did (leave practice). He's being evaluated for a lower body injury. We don't anticipate it being serious."
