Teddy Blueger had said after Monday's practice that it felt a "little weird" coming back from such a long absence.
Blueger had been sidelined since Jan. 23, after a high hit from Winnipeg's Brenden Dillon fractured his jaw, necessitating surgery the following day to repair it.
It was Blueger's first ever surgery, and it was a long road to recovery. He couldn't have solid foods for a full week (he learned that no foods other than maybe fruit are good once stuffed into a blender), and had to work his way up from soft foods back to a regular diet once again. After being off the ice for a few weeks, Blueger skated on his own for a few sessions before rejoining his teammates for a full practice on Feb. 22, nearly a month after his injury. After slowly working his way back up to being full-contact, Blueger was designated a "game-time decision" on Monday for Tuesday's game against the Panthers at PPG Paints Arena.
Not yet knowing whether he'd be in the lineup for that game, Blueger spoke Monday about likely needing to ease his way back into action for his eventual return.
"Whenever I do end up playing, I think it'll be important to just kind of get my feet under me and probably take a couple shifts to get acquainted again with the pace and all that stuff," he said. "I think after that, it's just another game you settle in and just play."
Blueger indeed did make his return in Tuesday's game against the Panthers, centering Zach Aston-Reeese and Brock McGinn on the fourth line and bumping Brian Boyle out of the lineup.
Blueger didn't seem like he needed much time to "get acquainted" with the game like he had anticipated. He made an impact in his first shift in the eventual 4-3 loss.
Blueger stepped onto the ice for his first shift at the 2:21 mark of the first period, drawing applause from the near-sellout crowd of 17,876 fans. He knocked Panthers forward Noel Acciari away from a loose puck, then recovered to spring his line on a rush. Blueger recorded a shot attempt off the rush that went wide:
It didn't result in a point, or even a shot on goal, but the shift was an early indication that Blueger would be just fine in his return.
Early in the second period, Blueger had the zone entry that led to Bryan Rust's goal for the Penguins. He didn't receive an assist for his efforts, or even a plus-1, after he had just stepped back onto the bench. He carried the puck into the Panthers' end and set up Brian Dumoulin for a shot that was stopped, with the rebound being recovered by Rust and leading to his goal:
Blueger recorded 13:45 of ice time in the game, a bit lighter of a workload than his average ice time of 15:40 before Tuesday's game. His workload increased over the course of the game, playing 3:28 in the first period, 4:57 in the second and then 5:20 in the third. He was right back out there on the penalty kill for each of the two times the Penguins were shorthanded in the second period, playing a combined 1:41 on the penalty kill.
I asked Mike Sullivan if there was an effort to manage Blueger's minutes given the amount of time he was off, and Sullivan said that he didn't feel like he needed to do so. Blueger was ready to go, and handled himself well.
"You know, I think his conditioning level is really high," Sullivan said. "He's worked really hard to prepare himself. I thought he played well. I think he understands he hasn't played in a while. I thought he kept the game simple, and that's an important aspect where you're not trying to do too much, and you put yourself and your teammates in a tough spot because of it. I thought he made good decisions with the puck, he always has good awareness defensively."
Blueger admittedly wasn't crazy about having to wear a full shield. Though he said he had gotten used to it during practices, it would still fog up at times, and he said that he was looking forward to getting it off. He could be seen popping the shield up while on the bench and adjusting it, wiping it down to get rid of the fog between shifts. Other than the minor annoyances, it didn't seem to actually impact his play during the game, though Blueger wasn't made available to speak afterward to say so himself. But in moments where you might think there's a possibility of the shield impacting his vision, like looking down to take a faceoff, it didn't seem to be a factor. Blueger won 6 of 11 of his draws for a success rate of 55 percent.
"I thought he was pretty good in the faceoff circle for the most part," Sullivan said. "I thought for the first game back after being off for as long as he has, I thought it was a real solid effort."
The fourth line as a unit was fine as far as results go. When the three were on the ice together the Penguins attempted seven shots and allowed 10. When Blueger was on the ice, regardless of who was out there with him, the Penguins attempted 11 shots and allowed 12 at five-on-five. The Penguins primarily matched that line against the Panthers' second line of Jonathan Huberdeau, Sam Bennett, and Anthony Duclair, and successfully prevented the Panthers from scoring any five-on-five goals against the fourth line.
Blueger recorded two shots on goal of his own, as well as three hits.
McGinn said that Blueger "didn't miss a beat" in his return to the lineup, and is hoping their line helps the Penguins get back into the win column for next game.
"I think he put in the work during his injury to come out and be ready," McGinn said. "So it's nice having him back in the lineup. We've just got to go out there next game and play better."