Inside Scoop: Pens-Isles
By
Michelle Crechiolo
Penguins Team Reporter
* LINEUP
The Pens held an optional skate this morning. Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, Riley Sheahan and Brian Dumoulin all stayed off the ice, as did Derick Brassard and Kris Letang - who are both dealing with injuries.
Head coach Mike Sullivan said Brassard, who missed Saturday's 5-0 win over Vancouver with a nagging lower-body injury, will not play tonight.
Letang, who briefly went to the locker room during that game after absorbing a hard check into the boards, left Monday's practice early for what Sullivan called "precautionary reasons" as he is also dealing with a nagging lower-body injury. Sullivan said Letang will be a game-time decision tonight.
* BACK EAST
This will be the Pens' first Metro Division game since their season opener against Washington on Oct. 4. They will host the Islanders tonight before heading to Brooklyn on Thursday for a home-and-home. The Pens are expecting a different Islanders team than they've faced in the past, as they have a new head coach in Barry Trotz and new personnel after longtime captain John Tavares signed with Toronto as a free agent.
"It is six straight periods against them," Bryan Rust said. "It's a team that's different than last year. Their identity is a little bit different. I think Trotz has gotten in there and had them working a little bit harder. They're a team that's going to be harder to play against this year and I think we're ready for that."
* REUNITED
As the Pens filtered onto the ice for morning skate, many of them stopped by the Islanders bench to greet their old teammate Tom Kuhnhackl with hugs and fist bumps. Kuhnhackl signed with the Islanders this summer after spending parts of three seasons with the Pens after they drafted him in 2010.
He was one of the young guys that got called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - along with Rust, Matt Murray, Conor Sheary and Scott Wilson - and helped Pittsburgh win two Stanley Cups. Since that group came up together,
they became close
and remain good friends despite Sheary, Wilson and Kuhnhackl all joining different organizations.
Rust, who had Kuhnhackl over his house last night, said it has been odd for him to see his buddies in different uniforms.
"It has been weird," Rust said. "Those are guys I've gotten really close with, especially Tommy. He became one of my best friends and seeing him last night, seeing him this morning, just kind of picking up where we left off. But it definitely is a little bit odd to see him over there."
* MOMENTUM
The Pens' road trip couldn't have gone better. They enjoyed a perfect 4-0 record on their 12-day trek through Toronto, Banff, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, outscoring their opponents 23-6 in those contests.
What Sullivan said he liked the most about his team's play throughout the trip was that they came together on the ice. He felt they did a much better job of playing as a group and their cooperative effort was much improved.
"We were trusting one another, we were doing our own job instead of trying to do my job plus somebody else's," Sullivan said. "That's important. The team game is so critically important to do well in this league. Part of it is establishing a certain level of trust amongst one another that everyone is going to do their job. That I'm going to trust my linemate or my defense partner or whatever it may be that we get the job done in certain situations that it may be. I thought the collective effort or the cooperative effort was much better on the road trip."
Now the question Sullivan and his players have been asked the last couple of days is how do they carry that momentum into this home-and-home with the Islanders? Rust said they're going to focus on their start, while Sullivan added that they need to simplify their game and try not to do too much.
"I think to play a straight-ahead game and take some of the thinking out of it, just get involved physically and just simplify in the decision-making out there," Sullivan said. "I think that's when our team is at its best anyway."
* HOMESICK
The team came together both on and off the ice during their road trip, which was a fantastic bonding experience - especially those days in Banff.
But that being said, the Pens are happy to be back in Pittsburgh, sleeping in their own beds, going through their usual routines and playing in front of their own fans tonight.
"That was a bit of a long one," Rust admitted with a smile. "It is very good to be back at home. I think everybody is excited to get back in front of our home fans and have somebody cheering for us for a change."
* STRONGER THAN HATE
The Pens players will wear special "Stronger Than Hate" patches on their jerseys for tonight's game. The patches - and the accompanying jersey auction - are part of the organization's effort to support victims and families of Saturday's tragic shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill. The Penguins will also conduct a collection of monetary donations at all three entrance gates at tonight's game.
Click here for more information and full details
.
"I'm sure it will be an emotional night for all of us," Sullivan said. "I know how important the Pittsburgh community is to this Pittsburgh Penguins organization, in particular to our team and our coaching staff. We have all felt this tragedy. I think from our standpoint, what we're trying to do is to do our part. One of the things that I have been so overwhelmingly impressed with since I've been the coach here is how great Pittsburgh people are. It really is a unique city. I think in times of crises it brings out the best in this city and our team is no different. We want to do our part to try to rally around the people of this tragedy. I think the best way that we can do it is to put an inspired effort on the ice. I'm sure that our players are going to be prepared to do that for our city."
