For most of us mere mortals, a four-day break in late December is simply a long weekend.
For NHL players, the ultimate creatures of habit, it can seem an eternity.
The Penguins' holiday break, which concludes with tonight's game against the Red Wings, isn't the first four-day break on this year's schedule. There was the same gap between game No. 2 (vs. the Canadiens) and game No. 3 (vs. the Golden Knights) in early October. There was also a four-day break following their Oct. 18 win at Toronto and their next game on Oct. 23 at Edmonton.
Unlike previous breaks in the schedule, the difference this time is that the Penguins haven't had a practice in the resort town of Banff, Alberta or anywhere else since their win over the Hurricanes last Saturday night in Raleigh, N.C.
For almost all players, Thursday morning's on-ice session at PPG Paints Arena was the first time they were back on skates. There is simply no treadmill or elliptical that can quite replicate the feel of sharpened blades cutting into ice. The NHL has become nearly a year-round business in terms of training and diet. Offseason? There isn't much of one.
Bryan Rust has been the Penguins' hottest player of late, scoring eight goals in the last seven games. He says the last time he went four days without skating was ... "June, or maybe a weekend in July." He couldn't even remember.
Though the break came at an unfortunate time for him, he welcomed it.
"I think anytime you can get a break, it's nice," Rust was telling me. "You can try and take advantage and get some rest. The season is pretty long. Anytime you can take advantage and get a rest, you take it."
To combat the rust factor, Mike Sullivan put the Penguins through an up-tempo, half-hour-long morning skate Thursday, and several players took the ice even earlier.
"Maybe do a little more in your warmups once you get to the rink," Rust said. "Try to activate your nervous system, get your legs and blood flowing. Just have to be focused a little more."
Getting back up to speed will be a challenge for the Penguins tonight. But it's the same for the Red Wings, too.
"It's obviously a bit weird, but, at the end of the day, both teams are on the same page," said Tanner Pearson, who, thanks to his November trade to the Eastern Conference, got to spend Christmas at home in Ontario for the first time in five years.
The challenge for the Penguins will be getting back to what has made them successful of late — 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. If they can carry over the good feelings from before the break, they should be all right.
"I think that's the most important thing, is the mindset going into it," Sullivan said. "If our mindset is where it needs to be, our adrenaline will take over, and our instincts will take over. We also have to be smart in how we play the game. Make sure your shift lengths are reasonable, so we don't put ourselves in difficult situations."
THE ESSENTIALS
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Jamie Oleksiak, defenseman, is out indefinitely with a concussion. … Justin Schultz, defenseman, is out until mid-February with a fractured leg. Sullivan said Thursday that Schultz is progressing and that the next big step for him will be to get back on the ice.
• Red Wings: Darren Helm, forward, has been out since Nov. 21 with an upper body injury. ... Danny DeKeyser, defenseman, has been out since Dec. 6 with an upper body injury. ... Mike Green, defenseman, has been out since Dec. 14 with a lower body injury. ... Anthony Mantha, forward, has been out since Dec. 4 with a hand injury.
THE SKATE
• For the first time since getting KO'd in his fight with Tom Wilson in Washington on Dec. 19, Oleksiak was back on the ice with his teammates.
He donned a non-contact jersey and reported afterward that he feels good. He almost certainly will miss tonight's game but appears close to returning.
When he does return, he says nothing will change about the way he plays. Though fighting does not define him, it's a part of the 6-foot-7, 255-pound defenseman's repertoire. You win some fights, you lose some others, he said.
"Just part of the game, I guess," Oleksiak said. "You're going to get hit. You have to accept that if you're going to fight. Just can't dwell on it."
He said he watched the tape of the Wilson fight and said he thought it was a fair fight. He also said he has learned from it. But his focus is on his health and the Penguins' immediate schedule, not what might happen March 12 when Wilson and the Capitals come back to Pittsburgh:
Oleksiak on Wilson fight and the future. #dkps #penguins pic.twitter.com/Pds3BlzCG2
— Chris Bradford (@PghBradford) December 27, 2018
"I don't know," Oleksiak said. "You can't look too far ahead. That's in the future. Right now, we're taking it game by game."
• Matt Murray will start in goal, making it the first time he has started consecutive games — albeit separated by the holiday break — since Nov. 15 and 17, a pair of losses to the Lightning and Senators. After the loss at Ottawa, Murray missed 13 games with a lower-body injury. He is 3-0 since returning, including a 39-save shutout last Saturday vs. Carolina.
Once again, Sullivan did not proclaim Murray his No. 1 or Casey DeSmith the backup. The coach said that with 13 games between now and the Jan. 20-27 bye week, including a pair of back-to-backs on their West Coast trip, both goalies will see plenty of time.
"There's plenty of opportunity to keep both of those guys engaged," he said. "We believe in both of them. They've both, at this point, given us a chance to win. I think we're fortunate in that regard."
• Even Sidney Crosby has endured slumps in his career like the one that Evgeni Malkin is currently going through. But the captain sounded confident that Malkin will break through soon. He points out that his teammate is still getting and creating chances.
"It's just a matter of sticking with it," Crosby said. "Sometimes the points don't say it all. Just having that mindset to keep going, finding ways. He's a pretty determined, competitive guy. It'll come."
• Sullivan said the Penguins' improved defensive play isn't due to scheme or strategy but rather hard work.
"I just think the overall commitment is better," he said. "The commitment to play away from the puck and the attention to detail is there. When we play with that level of commitment, then I think we have the ability to defend and can be harder to play against and can be stingy. That's what it takes to win in this league, and I think our players understand that."
THE OTHER SIDE
• Prior to the break, the Red Wings lost two in a row and six of the last seven. However, they have won two of three meetings against the Penguins in each of the last two seasons.
• Like the home team, the Red Wings held a full morning skate at PPG Paints Arena. The Red Wings arrived in Pittsburgh on Thursday morning.
• The Red Wings got some much-needed good news on the injury front Thursday. Jeff Blashill said that he anticipates that Andreas Athanasiou will be back in the lineup. He missed Detroit's previous two games with an upper body injury. Along with Dylan Larkin, who leads the Wings with 36 points in 38 games, Athanasiou is another one of Detroit's speedy youngsters that the Penguins will have to contain.
Back to business.
? vs. ?, 7pm. | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/A7YR4VOo3D
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 27, 2018
THE COMBINATIONS
• The Penguins' lines and pairings:
Guentzel—Crosby—Rust
Simon—Malkin—Hornqvist
Pearson—Brassard—Kessel
Sheahan—Cullen—Aston-Reese
Dumoulin—Letang
Maatta—Riikola
Pettersson—Johnson
• And for the Red Wings:
Nyquist—Larkin —Abdelkader
Bertuzzi—Nielsen—Vanek
Athanasiou—Glendening—Rasmussen
Ehn—De la Rose—Frk
Kronwall—Jensen
Cholowski—Daley
Ericsson—Hronek
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff tonight is at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins will practice Friday at noon in Cranberry before leaving for St. Louis, where they will face the Blues on Saturday night.
THE COVERAGE
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