Kris Letang has no intention of being smart about this.
"Ha! Never!" he came right back when I raised the topic of his sore right hand following the Penguins' optional morning skate Thursday at Consol Energy Center. "When am I smart about things like this? If it's not my head or my heart, I'm not going to be smart."
Evidently not. He will play tonight against the Flyers, Mike Sullivan confirmed, and he'll do so despite the hand injury having occurred only four days ago and it having kept him out of practice Wednesday. In the interim, he did play Monday in St. Louis, but it was painfully obvious he was well below peak strength.
"It does affect you, no question," he said. "But it's OK. I'll be fine. I'm really just going to concentrate on managing it."
That means he'll likely miss more practices along the way, even if he keeps playing.
FORGETTING ABOUT FLYERS
In a setting typical of recent years, the season's first meeting with the Flyers would be all the buzz on game day. Not so much this time.
"We're focused on what we've got to do, which is to get points," Ian Cole said. "That's no different in this game than it will be Saturday against Vancouver."
Even with the Penguins and Flyers separated by a point in the Metropolitan Division -- fifth and sixth place with 49 and 48 points, respectively -- Cole's point is indisputable. Neither team is in playoff position. Every point counts for both parties, and any residual emotion from besting a rival is sure to be short-lived.
That probably also explains Sullivan's nonchalant statement regarding the Flyers' infamous domination of the Penguins at Consol, where they're now 13-2-1, or that they've won eight in a row anywhere.
"I think what's in the past is in the past," Sullivan said. "This is a new group. I'm a new coach. I'm aware of the history. I'm aware of the rivalry, the emotions that are associated with it. I think this is a new season, this is a new team, this is a new staff. And for me, what's in the past is in the past."
Yeah, maybe not for the other guys ...
Home sweet (second) home #PHIvsPIT pic.twitter.com/XldNMVAhCJ
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 21, 2016