Morning skate: Bonino 'good to go' in Game 1

Nick Bonino participated in the Penguins' optional Monday morning skate and declared himself "good to go."

Kris Letang didn't participate, this a day after being held out of practice, but he, too, was emphatic he'll play. Mike Sullivan went further on this count, saying later he was "very confident" Letang will be able to log his usual minutes.

Add those two elements to a palpable pile of nerves all around, and that was pretty much the scene at Consol Energy Center a few hours before the 8:15 p.m. faceoff of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Sharks. The drills were light, but the mood was decidedly not.

"It's getting to be time to play," Ben Lovejoy said. "We want to get out there."

For the real thing, he meant.

"More than anything, you just want the game to start," Brian Dumoulin said.



This eagerness could parlay into a positive for the Penguins, who haven't exactly been ablaze when coming out of longer layoffs.

I asked Ian Cole about this:



Bonino's return, though fully expected, had to have provided some peace of mind. He blocked a shot in the third period of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, apparently with his left knee. He had to leave for the locker room for several minutes but returned to finish, winning several key faceoffs at the end. He showed no ill effects of the injury in the skate and appeared in excellent spirits during an extended interview session with the dozens of media members cramming the home locker room.

"Everything feels good," Bonino said. "Ready to go."

Asked if he had -- at any point -- any concern about playing Game 1: "Nope. Just had to take care of the body. Maintain it."

Of facing the Sharks, he said, "They're a deep team, just like we are. They've got scoring through all their lines. They've got two really good lines, skilled D, good goalie ... it's a good challenge. We'll need to keep the puck as much as we can, be smart with it."

Letang thoroughly dismissed his two days off the ice.

Playing tonight?

"Yep."

No problems?

"Nope."

SECONDARY ASSISTS

• Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel were the only others to bypass the optional skate. All three will play.

• Presumably to keep themselves sharp without hitting the ice, Crosby and Malkin engaged in some back-and-forth kicking of a soccer ball in a concourse hallway.

• Peter DeBoer, the Sharks' coach, on what adjustments he might make to counter the Penguins: "We're not changing a thing."