1. Murray close, very close
Goaltender Matt Murray had been dealing with a lingering issue, one that he admitted caused him some discomfort. It wasn't a big enough issue to keep him out of the lineup. Until it was.
Murray missed the past 11 games with a lower-body injury, but has been skating for a week and participated in his first full practice on Tuesday.
"It feels good," Murray said. "You kind of take for granted how much fun it is to be out there with the whole team rather than just yourself with no pucks. It gives you a big boost of energy to get back out there with your teammates."
Murray did not rule out playing Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"It's still undecided," he said. "I have to talk with the doctors. The progression is there, but it's still undecided."
Murray dealt with the discomfort for weeks before he was forced out. Though he did not use the injury as a crutch for his performance.
"The thing I was dealing with was lingering and getting worse and worse, but still not enough to come out," Murray said. "Eventually it got bad enough where you just need some time to rest it.
"I'm not going to use it as an excuse. I was sore, but it was nothing to come out of play. I was playing with it for a few weeks and it was fine. I just tweaked it one day. It didn't hinder many parts of my game. It's a specific place. Just giving it time to heal is the biggest thing."
2. Cullen moving in the right direction
Another Matt - Cullen - has also been out of the lineup for the Pens for the last 11 contests. He participated in his first full-contact practice on Tuesday.
"It's getting a lot better," Cullen said. "It's a few weeks out from the injury. It's coming around. It's nice to be out with the group and getting things back up to speed. It's progressed pretty good."
Cullen suffered the injury after blocking a shot.
"It's a pretty cut-and-dry injury," Cullen said. "It just needs a little time to heal. It's getting there now."
3. Practice info
While Murray and Cullen are moving in the right direction, one player isn't progressing at quite the same pace.
Winger Patric Hornqvist did not practice with the team, and head coach Mike Sullivan said his status remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
"We were hoping he would progress faster," Sullivan said. "But that hasn't happened."
The Pens used the following workflow…
Guentzel-Crosby-Brassard
Pearson-Malkin-Kessel
AstonReese-Sheahan-Rust
Wilson-Grant-Dea
(Cullen)
Dumoulin-Letang
Maatta-Oleksiak
Pettersson-Johnson
Riikola-Ruhwedel
