Hagelin, Fehr set to return for Penguins

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. --  Carl Hagelin and Ben Lovejoy rejoined the Penguins for their practice Thursday morning at the Lemieux Complex, both back from injury.

Hagelin, out the past two games with concussion-like symptoms after a hard hit Saturday in the loss to the Flames, was a full participant and looked plenty comfortable throughout, churning up the ice on line rushes. Official word about his availability won't come until after the session, but the strongest sign that he could play Friday in Columbus was that he skated alongside usual linemates Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.

Lovejoy, out since Feb. 20 with an unspecified upper-body injury, was wearing a yellow non-contact sweater, but otherwise didn't look at all out of place.

The forward lines and defense pairings were unchanged, aside from Hagelin's return:



Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Patric Hornqvist
Hagelin-Malkin-Kessel
Scott Wilson-Matt Cullen-Eric Fehr
Tom Kuhnhackl-Nick Bonino-Bryan Rust
Tom Sestito-Beau Bennett-Conor Sheary

Olli Maatta-Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin-Trevor Daley
Ian Cole-Justin Schultz
Lovejoy-Derrick Pouliot

The latter pairing powerfully indicates Pouliot remains outside the top-six picture.

Update 12:41 p.m.: Hagelin said he expects to play Friday, and Fehr, out since Feb. 2 with a lower-body injury, said he expects to be a "game-time decision." Both are almost certain to return.

I asked Hagelin, who'd never previously missed time in the middle of an NHL season, how crazy it made him to miss even just a couple of games:



Lovejoy said he'd been skating alone for "five, six, seven days," and he cringed as he said it: "I hate it. I'm so much more nervous watching on TV than when I'm playing. I can't do anything. I understand people who yell at the TV and write mean things on social media. I'm a big fan right now."

12:45: Mike Sullivan wasn't showing any cards in advance of facing the Blue Jackets, including on the status of Hagelin and Fehr: "We'll see how guys respond after practice. We will probably have some lineup decisions to make."

It's borderline unfathomable that Sestito wouldn't play, given the Brandon Dubinsky factor. No one in the organization is making any secret of why he's up.