3 Things: Penguins Practice 11.08.21
By
Tyler Gallo / Pittsburgh Penguins
1. Everyone in COVID protocol remains status quo
All the members of the Penguins organization that are in COVID protocol - Sidney Crosby, Brian Dumoulin, Marcus Pettersson, Chad Ruhwedel and head coach Mike Sullivan - were absent from practice today.
"All of our players that are currently in the COVID protocol remain in the protocol," Reirden said. "So status quo."
The team announced that Pettersson and Ruhwedel had entered the protocol on Sunday, Oct. 31; that Crosby and Dumoulin had confirmed positive for COVID on Wednesday, Nov. 3; and that Sullivan had been added to the list on Thursday, Nov. 4. Pettersson, Ruhwedel, Crosby and Sullivan were all listed as symptomatic, while Dumoulin is asymptomatic. The team has been adjusting as best they can with these big holes to fill both on the ice and on the bench.
"Losing your head coach and your captain, it's difficult. Dumo is a leader as well, he wears the A pretty often," defenseman Mike Matheson said. "I think that that's one of the strengths of our team, is that there's a lot of guys in the room that - it might sound cliche - but whether it was before they got to the NHL or on other teams, that were leaders in their own respect, too."
2. Workflow stays the same
All other expected players were present, and the lines remained the same at practice. Here is the Penguins' workflow:
Guentzel-Carter-Rust
Zucker-Rodrigues-Kapanen
Aston-Reese-Blueger-McGinn
O'Connor-Boyle-Heinen
(Lafferty, Simon)
Matheson-Letang
Joseph-Marino
Riikola-Friedman
(Fedun)
3. On the road again
After a season-long eight-game homestand where the team went 3-3-2, the Penguins got on a plane to Chicago following practice to take on the Blackhawks tomorrow night. Matheson said the team was looking forward to getting back on the road for the first time since their season-opening trip to Florida on Oct. 12 and 14 after spending so much time at home.
"[The long homestand] was a little odd. It hasn't quite felt like a regular season yet in that aspect, just because we haven't been on the road very much, just the one trip at the beginning of the year," Matheson said. "I think as nice as it is to be at home and be in that routine for a little while, I think it'll be good for us to get away and be on planes together, be in the hotel together and hopefully gel a little bit more like that."
The last time these two teams faced each other, the Penguins rode a four-goal first period to a 5-2 victory in their home opener on Oct. 16 thanks to a great effort out of the Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Brock McGinn line. Reirden talked about the consistency of the line through all of the players coming in and out of the lineup due to injuries and COVID, as they have remained together for every game all three players were available.
"They've been really solid for us this year, and I think they exactly describe and play how we want our Penguins players to play," Reirden said. "They get opportunities against the other team's top offensive players, and whether it's minimizing offensive opportunities themselves or creating offense, they play the closest to our identity."
