3 Things: 2-20-18
1. Schultz feeling better
Justin Schultz missed Pittsburgh's back-to-back wins over Toronto and Columbus this past weekend because he was sick. The defenseman rejoined practice today and said his health had definitely improved.
"Just got sick, there's not much you can do about it," Schultz said. "Feeling better now, it's good we got a week here before we play next."
While Tom Kuhnhackl (lower body, 6 games missed) has not started skating on his own, Patric Hornqvist (lower body, 7 games missed) is making progress.
"He practiced this morning with (skills coach Ty Hennes) on his own," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "The next step obviously will be to join the team for practice. We'll hoping that will be soon."
2. Pens embracing 4-day break
The Pens are in the midst of a four-day break between games. After their 5-2 win over the Blue Jackets on Sunday, they won't play again until Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
A lot of times, teams in this league don't like taking time off, preferring instead to stay in the rhythm that comes with playing every other day. Especially when they have momentum like Pittsburgh does, as the red-hot Pens have won five straight games and 10 of their past 12. Plus, it can be stressful being forced to watch the standings with how tight their division is.
But as the Pens have said all season long, it's more about the big picture. This team has played a lotof hockey the past two years, and they'll take every chance they can get to rest.
"It's great," defenseman Kris Letang said. "I think we've played a lot of hockey and it comes at the right time. It's always nice to have four days to recover, treat guys that have little injuries. So it's good."
The coaches aren't just trying to keep the players' legs fresh, they're trying to keep their minds fresh as well. So after a day off on Monday, they switched up Tuesday's practice by having Hennes come out and do skill work with the team instead of doing their usual breakout and flow drills.
"I think there's always a fine line between repetition and monotony, and we're always guarding against monotony," Sullivan said. "Ty Hennes does a terrific job, we thought it was a real good opportunity to do some skill work, some position-specific skill work and we broke the ice down into defensemen and forwards. We had some competitive games, I think the players had fun. I'm sure they're probably tired of listening to my voice. So when they get an opportunity to hear somebody else, I think it's productive. So I thought it was a real productive day, I think it's great for the players, it energizes them and I think at this time of the year, that's one of the most important things, is we've got to stay energized. We thought this made sense based on how the schedule is and my hope is that the players had fun and enjoyed it."
The players confirmed afterward that they did.
"That stuff is fun out there," Schultz said. "It's good to get time off to get that stuff in and sharpen up your skills."
3. Trade deadline looms
Everything's going well with the team right now. They're winning games, are healthy for the most part (knock on wood), and have just really started to come together as a group.
But no matter how good they're feeling, there's still a slight sense of uneasiness that creeps in with the trade deadline fast approaching on Monday at noon.
"It's always a nervous time no matter where you are unless you're Sid or Geno," defenseman Ian Cole said. "It's already a nervous time every single year. Things may change, they may not. Our job as players is to continue to put a great product on the ice and play well and win hockey games."
And since they have been doing exactly that, they're hoping that their recent play means that this group will stay as intact as possible. But the players understand that it's out of their control and that management is going to do whatever they think is necessary to put this team in the best position possible to win a third Stanley Cup.
"We're playing our best hockey, I think teams in our position usually add players, so that's always a good thing," defenseman Matt Hunwick said. "But subtractions happen as well, so we'll see what happens."
