When a player is working back from injury, it's not uncommon for them to work alone with skills coach Ty Hennes before practice formally starts for the Penguins.
For the past two practices, on Wednesday in Cranberry and then today at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins had full attendance in practice. Nobody was missing, everyone was full-contact, though Evgeni Malkin and Casey DeSmith didn't participate in Wednesday's scrimmage, something Mike Sullivan called a "coach's decision" afterward.
But also for the past two practices, Malkin worked alone with Hennes before the session got underway.
The first drill Hennes was leading Malkin through was this one, where Malkin had to skate wide over a stick obstacle and then shoot at a shooter tutor:
After that, the stick was replaced with a number of pucks placed close together throughout the slot, and Malkin had to quickly stickhandle around them before shooting.
When Malkin was working on the latter drill, Hennes said something to Malkin about getting his hands and legs back up "to speed."
Malkin and Hennes worked together for at least 30 minutes. Malkin remained on the ice for the full practice, and skated in his usual spot on the second line and on the top power play.
"He's working through the process," Sullivan said of Malkin. "He's trying to capture his very best game, he's working through it every day. He's working extremely hard at it. I think he's excited about the opportunity in front of us. But Geno works really hard at getting back. He's an important player for us, and I think he understands that he wants to be a part of it. He's working extremely hard to get to this point."
DeSMITH HURT
The Penguins' full attendance in Friday's practice didn't last long, though.
About 30 minutes into the session, DeSmith made a pretty routine-looking save but immediately dropped to his stomach and laid face-down on the ice for a few moments in pain. He slowly got up and skated on his own to the Penguins' tunnel. When he got to the tunnel, he slammed his stick on the boards and the ground a few times before going back to the locker room with a trainer.
DeSmith did not return to practice.
DeSmith missed the Penguins' last two games of the regular season with a lower-body injury suffered in the game against the Flyers on May 3. He rejoined the team for practice for the first time on Wednesday, and took part in the early portion of practice with regular drills and special teams work, but did not participate in the scrimmage.
Max Lagace, who was already on the ice for practice but watching from along the boards for most of it, replaced DeSmith in net for the rest of practice.
Sullivan said after practice that DeSmith was being evaluated for a lower-body injury.
If Lagace is called upon in the playoffs, the Penguins have confidence in him after his shutout in the regular-season finale.
"Max is a good goalie," Sullivan said. "He did a great job for us against Buffalo last week. My hope is that that will give him a big boost of confidence, having played in an NHL game this year. If we are called upon to put him in the net, I think that should help him moving forward. He's a good goalie. We know he can make a timely save for us that can give our team a chance to win."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• The lines and pairings were the same as they had in Tuesday's practice, the last day of practice they had with regular line rushes.
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Kasperi Kapanen
Jared McCann-Jeff Carter-Freddy Gaudreau
Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Brandon Tanev
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
• Mike Matheson switched to a full bubble-like shield on his mask instead of the cage. He noted on Wednesday that the cage was "a bit of an adjustment" after not wearing it since college.
• Tristan Jarry, regarding his recovery from his own injury that kept him out of the regular-season finale, said that he's "ready to go, ready to play."
• The walls around the lower concourse and the corners of the video board have new gold coverings on them for the playoffs. The Penguins are wearing their gold alternates for home games in the playoffs.
• Alex D'Orio was sent back to Wilkes-Barre and practiced there this afternoon. Wilkes-Barre has two games left this season over the weekend, so D'Orio could play Saturday and Sunday then come back up, though it's possible that DeSmith's injury could change those plans. Emil Larmi is still in Pittsburgh to meet the three-goaltender requirement if needed.