EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Brian Dumoulin (lower-body) and John Marino (upper-body) joined their teammates at Penguins practice on Tuesday at Toyota Sports Performance Center for the first time since undergoing their respective surgeries. Both defensemen wore white no-contact jerseys.
Dumoulin, Marino join team practice
"We're hoping it's sooner rather than later," Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said when asked about when they could potentially return. "They certainly looked good out there today. I spoke with 'Dumo' at the end of practice and he felt great. I haven't had a chance to talk to John Marino. But from the eye test they certainly looked pretty good out there, so that's encouraging."
Dumoulin has missed the last 33 games since undergoing surgery to repair lacerated tendons in his left ankle on Dec. 1. It's the most time he has missed due to injury in his career, so he was thrilled to be back out with his teammates.
"It was fun. I haven't been out that long ever in my career, so very thankful for the guys including me a lot when we were out," he said. "It's really, really tough when you're injured and feel alone. I thought the group did a great job of including us. They brought us on a couple of the road trips when they didn't have to. Very thankful for that. Really, really excited to be back."
When it comes to how he feels physically, Dumoulin said so far, so good.
"Felt really good," he said. "Obviously you don't really know how it's going to go when you first get out there and stuff. It can feel great off the ice but on the ice it could be a lot different. It was good to be out there with all the guys and practicing at that tempo and game speed."
The 28-year-old suffered the injury on his first shift in the Penguins' game against St. Louis on Nov. 30 after getting tangled up with Blues forward Zach Sandford. Dumoulin called it an unfortunate, unlucky play.
"I tried to get up and the thing is I could stand on my foot. It wasn't the up and the down, it was the side-to-side," Dumoulin said. "As soon as I tried to take a stride I knew that something was wrong. I got back to the bench and put my leg up and could just see blood all over the tongue of my skate. I knew at that point something major had happened."
The surgery was performed at UPMC Presbyterian by team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas in collaboration with Dr. MaCalus Hogan and Dr. John Fowler, of UPMC. Dumoulin credited the doctors and the Penguins medical staff for the incredible job they've done in helping him rehab such a serious injury.
"Definitely getting more confident now," Dumoulin said. "When I was going through that injury at first I was like, how is it going to feel? (Laughs). I've never had to deal with anything like that. At first when you're in that boot it feels pretty crappy. Now it's starting to feel great, it's starting to feel like my other leg and it's really exciting."
While it was difficult for Dumoulin to be away from the team, the silver lining is that he got to spend more time with his wife Kayla and their first child, Brayden, who was born on Nov. 3 - and enjoy being a first-time father.
"It was a blessing being able to spend that time with my wife and my newborn baby," Dumoulin said. "That was amazing being able to be in his life a little more. Definitely want to get back with the team and start playing some games and having some fun."
Meanwhile, Marino was injured when a slapshot from Steven Stamkos deflected off his cheek when the Penguins were in Tampa to play the Lightning on Feb. 6.
"It's kind of a scary situation," said Marino, who has seen the replay and said it's tough to watch. "You just kind of hope for the best and you're not really sure how serious it is. We didn't really know until we got an X-ray and everything like that. We were lucky we were able to fix it pretty quick and get back on the ice as soon as possible."
The 22-year-old has missed the last eight games since undergoing surgery to repair facial bone fractures on Feb. 10. Marino, who wore a full face shield on the ice, is two weeks into the 3-6 week recovery timeline he was given.
"Doing better," he said. "Two weeks out of surgery and still have that minimum of three weeks. Just waiting for the rest of the swelling to go down, but it's gotten a lot better. I'll be back as soon as possible. We'll see."
