1. Crosby skates before practice
Sidney Crosby skated on his own before the team practice. The captain left Saturday's intra-squad scrimmage in the second and final period when he headed to the locker room and did not return, and has not partaken in any on-ice team sessions since.
No further update on Crosby was provided per the current NHL Return to Play protocol, which says clubs are not permitted to disclose player injury and/or illness information.
"Sid skated on his own this morning before the team practice, and I'll have no more further comment after that," Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said.
2. Hornqvist rejoins the team
Patric Hornqvist joined team practice for the first time this training camp since being one of
nine players held out as a precaution
.
"It felt great to be back," Hornqvist said. "I can't really put a number on how tough it was or whatever. I put that behind me and look forward instead."
The group was cleared to re-join Phase 3 on Monday, and skated on their own for the last couple of days so that they had a chance to get their legs under them. While Sullivan was impressed by what he saw from Hornqvist today, he was not surprised.
Because not only was Hornqvist able to skate a fair amount in his native Sweden - the 33-year-old winger is a consummate pro who always does everything within his power to make sure he's in the best shape possible.
"He takes care of himself; he does things the right way and his work ethic is off the charts when it comes to his conditioning," Sullivan said. "To be able to step into a practice like that today with basically two skates under his belt the last couple of weeks I think is impressive, and that just gives you an indication of his work ethic and how he takes care of himself."
As expected, Hornqvist slotted onto a line with Patrick Marleau and Jared McCann. Sullivan said that trio has the ability to be a good, solid 200-foot line and a potential difference-maker in games.
"Canner looks great out there," Hornqvist said. "He can really fly and he shoots the puck probably harder than anyone on the team. We just have to make sure he gets the puck as much as he can in the middle, and try to feed me and Patty on the side to create a cycle game and take it to the net. I like our line, how it's been so far and hopefully we can get better here every day."
