MATCH: Penguins vs. Panthers
TIME: 7 p.m EST
PLACE: PPG Paints Arena
TV: ROOT Sports
RADIO: 105.9 FM, The X
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
Pens captain Sidney Crosby may make his season debut after missing the first six games with a concussion. He will be a game-time decision … Pittsburgh reunited the HBK Line (Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel) after a one-day separation … Defenseman Brian Dumoulin is playing in his 100th career game … Pittsburgh is holding its annual "Hockey Fights Cancer" night. Coaches and staff will be wearing purple to help raise cancer awareness and the players will wear special purple jerseys in warm-up that will be auctioned online to benefit the UPMC CancerCenter and the Mario Lemieux Foundation … The ageless Jaromir Jagr returns once again to Pittsburgh … The Panthers begin a 4-game road trip tonight.
MORNING SKATE REPORT:
\Absent from the morning skate were Conor Sheary (eye) and Derrick Pouliot (lower-body).
\Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Kris Letang (upper-body) both took part in the morning skate. Crosby took part in line rushes, while Letang wore a yellow "no-contact" jersey.
\The Pens used the following workflow…
Wilson-Crosby-Hornqvist
Kunitz-Malkin-Rust
Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel
Kunhnackl-Cullen-Fehr
The defense rotated with three at each end
PP1: Schultz, Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Hornqvist
PP2: Daley, Warsofsky, Wilson, Bonino, Kunitz
\Letang will not play tonight, but the team is encouraged that he's back on the ice with the team. Letang called his upper-body injury a "nagging injury." He also said that he didn't suffer the injury from a hit by Montreal's Brendan Gallagher. "It didn't help, but it has nothing to do with it."
\Sheary saw a doctor on Monday and will be re-evaluated in a week for his eye injury. He has not been medically cleared to play.
\The next step for Murray, who has practiced with the team, is to be in a backup role for a game. He missed the first six games this year with a hand injury.
