Matheson and Zucker Start Skating; Kapanen Gaining Traction

Following a day off on Saturday, the Penguins returned to practice on Sunday morning at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. Here are the updates…

- Matheson, Zucker start skating
Before the session began, defenseman Mike Matheson and winger Jason Zucker skated on their own with skills coach Ty Hennes.
"Obviously the fact that they went on the ice is a next step for them, so that's encouraging, from our standpoint," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "From a status standpoint, that doesn't change anything. The progression to the return to play is to start with Ty and then join the team and then participate in full capacity. We'll see how that timeline plays out."

The day after Matheson logged over 19 minutes in Pittsburgh's 6-1 loss to New Jersey on Feb. 25, it was announced that he would be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Meanwhile, Zucker has been out since undergoing a successful core muscle injury repair on Jan. 25. The lower-body injury had been nagging him heading into the holidays, but Zucker tried to play through it, which Sullivan said just speaks to his character.
"We were pretty banged up at the time and we had a depleted lineup, and I think Zuck was gutting it out for us here game in and game out to try and give us bodies to put in the lineup that could help us win games," Sullivan said.
Coming out of the break, Zucker was only able to appear in one of Pittsburgh's next 10 games after the team resumed play on Jan. 2 - scoring twice in their epic 5-3 win over the Golden Knights on Jan. 17 - before it was decided that surgery would be his best option.
"We all love Zuck. He's a big part of this team, and it's good to see him kind of coming back," winger Kasperi Kapanen said. "He played that game in Vegas and then kind of having a setback always sucks, but good to see that he's making some progress. We missed him and hope he comes back soon."
- Domingue a full participant; maintenance day for Malkin
The Penguins practiced with three goalies, as Louis Domingue, who has missed the last 18 games with a lower-body injury, rejoined his teammates. Sullivan confirmed that the netminder, who turns 30 today, was a full participant.
Domingue appeared in one game for Pittsburgh on Jan. 15 at San Jose when Casey DeSmith was injured, making 40 saves in their 2-1 overtime win over the Sharks. Domingue was set to get another start on Jan. 20 vs. Ottawa when he suffered the injury in the game-day skate that morning after taking a shot off the inside of his foot.
Evgeni Malkin was the only player absent from team practice, and Sullivan said he was given a maintenance day. Evan Rodrigues skated in his spot on the top power-play unit with Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. The team did not do line rushes.
The Penguins will practice again on Monday morning before hosting Florida on Tuesday.
- Kapanen gaining some traction
A player that's planning to make use of this practice time to work on finishing scoring chances is Kapanen, who has been mired in quite the drought. The 25-year-old winger has gone without a goal for the past 16 games.
"I'm just going through a slump that I haven't really ever been through before, so I just got to push through it," he said. "Just gotta stay on the ice more and practice some things and get some reps."

The good news is that both Kapanen and his coach feel like his game is heading in the right direction, especially since being moved back onto Malkin's line with Danton Heinen. Kapanen collected a helper last Sunday in Columbus and got another assist on Thursday against the Lightning to give him points in two of his last three outings.
"I thought their game in Tampa was really good," Sullivan said. "Their line was terrific all night long, and he was a big part of it. So I think he's gaining some traction. If he keeps utilizing his speed the way he's capable, he's got to shoot the puck and go to the net. When he does that, I think he's gonna help us."
While Kapanen said he's going to keep pushing to be more of a factor out there, he's also not losing sight of the big picture.
"Obviously, I want to produce and score goals and do anything I can help to the team win," he said. "But listen, if I don't score another goal this season and the team keeps winning and we make playoffs and we have a good run, that's what I'm here for. So I like the way our team's playing right now."