After taking part in his first full practice with the team on Sunday, Jason Zucker could return to the Penguins' lineup as soon as Monday night after missing the past 18 games with a lower-body injury.
Mike Sullivan said in his availability on Monday that Zucker will be a game-time decision for the Penguins' game against the Islanders this evening at PPG Paints Arena.
Zucker was taking part in the Penguins' optional skate as a full participant at the time Sullivan was speaking.
Zucker worked with the second power play unit skated on the second line in Sunday's practice, both indications that he's nearing a return. The Penguins used the following lines and pairings on Sunday:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker-Jared McCann-Evan Rodrigues
Zach Aston-Reese-Freddy Gaudreau-Sam Lafferty
Colton Sceviour-Mark Jankowski-Radim Zohorna
(Anthony Angello)
Kris Letang-Brian Dumoulin
Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev both skated with skills coach Ty Hennes before the optional skate, then stayed on the ice for the skate. Mark Friedman took part in the optional morning skate. Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen are continuing their off-ice rehab.
• Tristan Jarry will start.
• The Penguins aren't expecting any momentum from their 6-3 win on Saturday to carry over tonight.
"For me, every night is a new challenge," Sullivan said. "That's how we look at it. We've got to create our own momentum when the puck drops tonight. That's the most important takeaway for me. Those are the conversations that we have with our players. We know we're going to get a tough Islanders team tonight, they're going to want to respond. We would expect to get their very best game, we're going to have to be at our best as well. We're going to focus on our team and our approach, and we're going to do everything we can to put our best game on the ice. That's what we do each and every night when the puck drops.
"Momentum, for me, is something that you create every night when the puck drops," he continued. "There's ebbs and flows in every game, and it's establishing the resilience witth the group to be able to survive the times when you don't have momentum and you get on your heels, and finding ways to simplify your game in order to get on your toes and get the momentum back. There's a certain resilience of the group that's required to handle the ebbs and flows of the 60-minute hockey game in order to find ways to have success. That's something we discuss with our team."