Schultz "terrific" in return

The cheers began one minute, 52 seconds into the Penguins' 5-4 loss to Calgary on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. That was when Justin Schultz took the ice for his first shift after missing 53 games with a fractured left leg.
It was a monumental moment for the 28-year-old defenseman, as it marked the end of an extended recovery period that lasted over four months after he suffered the injury on Oct. 13 in Montreal.

"It was exciting, nerve-wracking," Schultz said. "I don't remember being that nervous for a regular-season game before. It was good, the other guys helped me a lot, and we're back into it."
Schultz immediately made an impact, generating a scoring chance on that same shift. He took a pass from Evgeni Malkin in the slot and let it rip, forcing Flames goalie Mike Smith to come up with a big stick save on his blocker side.
"It's pretty nice to get a chance on your first shift, not being in our own end," Schultz said. "(Malkin) made a great play and it's too bad I couldn't put it in."
Schultz followed that up with a similar sequence toward the end of the first period, seconds after a Pittsburgh power play expired. On the play, Nick Bjugstad circled around the net and found Schultz at the bottom of the left circle.
He snapped the puck on net, where Jake Guentzel re-directed it with a beautiful tip to give Schultz an assist on the play.
"Great play by Nick to get it up to me," Schultz said. "I knew the power play was expiring and Jake did a great job taking his eyes away and putting his stick up, and he did the rest of the work."
Schultz finished with that helper in 17:12 minutes of ice time, partnered with Jack Johnson.
"I thought he was terrific," Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said of Schultz. "You can see the impact he has. His ability to pass the puck, he sees the ice, he joins the rush, he's active on the offensive blue line - he just helps our transition game. He helps us in so many ways. He's a solid defenseman, I thought he made a big difference."
The Pens had sorely missed Schultz since he suffered the injury in the first period of that game against the Canadiens. On the play, Schultz was checked into the corner by Tomas Plekanec and his left leg was caught awkwardly under him as he fell to the ice. Schultz appeared to be in shock right after and required help to the locker room, not putting any weight down on his leg.
"I knew right away (it was bad)," Schultz said
on the fourth episode of The Scoop podcast
. "I don't remember feeling any pain, I was in shock. I just wanted to get off the ice. I hate laying on the ice and having everyone looking at you. I just wanted to get off but I knew right away something was wrong."
He underwent surgery the next day and was in a walking boot and crutches for about a month, trying to stay busy by watching episodes of Friendsand playing video games.
It helped that after a couple of weeks, the medical staff had cleared him to start coming to the rink, where he was able to sit in on meetings and be around his teammates. While he was eventually able to start working out on the bike, elliptical and water treadmill, Schultz said the first couple of months passed by slowly.
Things started to pick up once the calendar turned, with Schultz taking a big step on Jan. 5 when he skated for the first time since the injury wearing his skates, helmet and a track suit.
He joined the team in a non-contact fashion for his first real practice on Jan. 31 before progressing to full contact on Feb. 4 and spent the next two weeks getting back into form.
Physically, his leg muscles had atrophied, so he had to strengthen that while working on his conditioning. Mentally, having been out for so long with that type of injury, Schultz said there was also a hurdle he had to get over in his head in terms of being comfortable out there.
Schultz spent about two weeks getting as close into game shape as possible before the Pens activated him off of injured reserve on Feb. 15. Now, he's back and ready to continue helping the Pens as they battle for a playoff spot down the stretch.
"Just trusting the leg, it was fine, I was confident in it," Schultz said. "It's going to take some time (but) I thought it was a decent first game back. I felt pretty good, as good as I can feel. I worked pretty hard to get ready, but you can't ever prepare for games. I thought I felt pretty good, and get back again (Sunday)."