Lizotte, Dewar return to ice, appear ready for Game 1
PENGUINS
Blake Lizotte skates toward a drill Thursday in Cranberry, Pa.
Nothing's official, but then, it sure didn't look like that was necessary.
Blake Lizotte, out 16 games with a broken hand, and Connor Dewar, out four games with an undisclosed lower-body injury, were back at practice with the Penguins this morning here at the UPMC Lemieux Sports complex. What's more, they were full participants in every way, energetic and enthusiastic, and were even doing all drills alongside Noel Acciari to reunite what'd been one of the NHL's most rabid fourth lines.
Could one or both be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Flyers, Saturday, 8 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena?
Both affirmed that they feel ready, but that decision's obviously made over their heads. And Dan Muse wouldn't elaborate on either player's status after the session, saying only, "They were full participants today in practice, and we'll have conversations here with medical staff, and we'll go from there."
He then smiled slightly and added, "But it was great to have them back on the ice. Especially Lizzo, who'd been out a while. They looked good out there, but we'll have those conversations this afternoon."
Lizotte was asked how he was feeling and, rather than responding about his health, replied, "Obviously, first and foremost, excited. This is why you do it this time of year. At the beginning of the year, you heard the talk around, I don't know what it was, a 10% chance we were gonna make playoffs or whatever. But I think internally, we knew what we had, and to kinda see it come to fruition and get in is really exciting. But I think with this group, especially the amount of experience we have in this room, it's not enough just to make playoffs."
Lizotte did eventually say of his injury, incurred a month ago in Salt Lake City: "Just a freak thing. Hit by a puck. But I'm healthy now, good to go."
Here's how lines and pairings were shown in practice:
(Kevin Hayes rotated in on the third line, Justin Brazeau on the second.)
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson Sam Girard-Kris Letang Ryan Shea-Connor Clifton
(Ryan Graves, Jack St. Ivany were extras in drills, and Ilya Solovyov and Jake Livanavage were dispatched to a separate rink.)
Also relevant within what's above: Soderblom took Brazeau's place on the third line, possibly on merit, possibly because Brazeau isn't fully healthy. I noticed bandaging on a shoulder after this session.
THE ASYLUM
Lizotte, Dewar return to ice, appear ready for Game 1
PENGUINS
Blake Lizotte skates toward a drill Thursday in Cranberry, Pa.
Nothing's official, but then, it sure didn't look like that was necessary.
Blake Lizotte, out 16 games with a broken hand, and Connor Dewar, out four games with an undisclosed lower-body injury, were back at practice with the Penguins this morning here at the UPMC Lemieux Sports complex. What's more, they were full participants in every way, energetic and enthusiastic, and were even doing all drills alongside Noel Acciari to reunite what'd been one of the NHL's most rabid fourth lines.
Could one or both be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Flyers, Saturday, 8 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena?
Both affirmed that they feel ready, but that decision's obviously made over their heads. And Dan Muse wouldn't elaborate on either player's status after the session, saying only, "They were full participants today in practice, and we'll have conversations here with medical staff, and we'll go from there."
He then smiled slightly and added, "But it was great to have them back on the ice. Especially Lizzo, who'd been out a while. They looked good out there, but we'll have those conversations this afternoon."
Lizotte was asked how he was feeling and, rather than responding about his health, replied, "Obviously, first and foremost, excited. This is why you do it this time of year. At the beginning of the year, you heard the talk around, I don't know what it was, a 10% chance we were gonna make playoffs or whatever. But I think internally, we knew what we had, and to kinda see it come to fruition and get in is really exciting. But I think with this group, especially the amount of experience we have in this room, it's not enough just to make playoffs."
Lizotte did eventually say of his injury, incurred a month ago in Salt Lake City: "Just a freak thing. Hit by a puck. But I'm healthy now, good to go."
Here's how lines and pairings were shown in practice:
Egor Chinakhov-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Tommy Novak-Rickard Rakell-Evgeni Malkin
Elmer Soderblom-Ben Kindel-Anthony Mantha
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
(Kevin Hayes rotated in on the third line, Justin Brazeau on the second.)
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard-Kris Letang
Ryan Shea-Connor Clifton
(Ryan Graves, Jack St. Ivany were extras in drills, and Ilya Solovyov and Jake Livanavage were dispatched to a separate rink.)
Also relevant within what's above: Soderblom took Brazeau's place on the third line, possibly on merit, possibly because Brazeau isn't fully healthy. I noticed bandaging on a shoulder after this session.
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