Inside Scoop: Penguins Practice 05.17.21

Thoughts, musings and observations from Monday's practice ahead of Game 2 against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

INJURY UPDATES

• Evgeni Malkin skated with the team after missing Game 1 on Sunday.
  "His status is still day-to-day," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's a game-time decision (for Game 2). He practiced with us today, and we'll take each day as it comes."
  After missing 23 contests with a lower-body injury, Malkin returned to play in the last four games of the regular season, but sat out the final 8:48 of the third period in the finale for precautionary reasons after thinking he tweaked something in a collision. Sullivan said Malkin got checked out afterwards and felt fine.
  Malkin then practiced with the team all last week, twice going out early to work with skills coach Ty Hennes for additional work. However, Malkin did not do line rushes or work with the first power-play unit during Saturday's skate before sitting out Sunday's game. That was Malkin's situation again today before he stayed out for extra work with Hennes and was the last player to leave the ice.
  After practice, Sullivan was asked if Malkin sustained a setback that caused him to miss Game 1, or if he just didn't progress as expected in the final games of the regular season.
  "It's just been part of the process that Geno's been going through," Sullivan replied. "He's obviously trying to get back as soon as he can for us right now.
  - Brian Dumoulin was given a maintenance day after blocking a shot in the third period of Game 1.
  Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock wound up and took a slapper from the point that struck Dumoulin on the outside of his right skate. The Penguins blueliner was slow to get up and skate off, and appeared to be in a lot of pain on the bench. But Dumoulin battled through it and was able to play the remainder of the game.
  "Dumo's been a great player for us," Brandon Tanev said. "He's been a great player in this league for a long time. He's a leader for this group. He plays tough minutes. He's a warrior out there."
  - Goaltender Casey DeSmith was also absent from the session as he continues to deal with the lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since May 4.
  "Casey did not skate today," Sullivan said. "His status is still day-to-day."

WORKFLOW

The Penguins stuck with the same lines they used in Game 1. The defensemen rotated with Dumoulin out. Here is the workflow…
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
McCann-Carter-Kapanen
Zucker-Gaudreau-Rodrigues
Aston-Reese-Blueger-Tanev
PP1) Letang, Crosby, McCann, Guentzel, Rust
PP2) Different combinations of Marino, Matheson, Carter, Kapanen, Zucker and Rodrigues

VIBE CHECK

Outside of the Penguins' dressing room, there's been a lot of hot takes about the team's performance in Game 1, where they suffered a 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders. But inside of the Penguins' dressing room, away from all of that noise, the players are feeling calm, focused and excited to get back at it.
"Just coming into the locker room today, everybody was fine," Kasperi Kapanen said. "Watched a little video and got out there and had a little sweat. The mood's great. It hasn't changed one bit. We're a confident group. We know we just got to get ready for tomorrow."

As Tanev succinctly put it, of course they want to win every playoff game, but that's just not going to be the case. They have a lot of respect for the Islanders, who did a tremendous job of battling back from a 2-1 deficit coming out of the second intermission to eventually emerge victorious in the game. But there was a lot to like about the Penguins' play as well, and they've been a resilient group all year when it comes to responding after losses.
"There's another good team on the other side that we're playing against," Tanev said. "Obviously we're not happy with the result and the loss, we gave them one. But it's a seven-game series. We had a good practice today. Our leadership group has done a great job of showing us what we need to get better at. I think we're going to be excited and we're going to be a hungry group."
As Kris Letang put it the other day, this series will come down to who executes their game plan the best. Both teams play certain styles and structures they believe in, and Tanev said the Penguins are focused on theirs and getting to it as quickly as they can.
"I think that's the plan for tomorrow," Tanev said. "Rolling four lines, six D, and helping our goaltender in any way we can. I think it comes down to how we're playing the game. We don't want to focus our efforts too much on what they're doing, it's about getting to our game as fast as we can, playing the right way and enjoying playoff hockey. It's a grind out there, but it's the best time of the year."

FULLER HOUSE

The Penguins can't wait to have even more crowd support behind them for Game 2, as capacity for playoff games at PPG Paints Arena will increase from 25% to 50% starting tomorrow. That means the team can welcome more than 9,000 fans into the building.
"We're fortunate here in Pittsburgh that we have such a great fan base," Tanev said. "It's electrifying in there and obviously with more fans in attendance in the games, it's going to bring a boost for us. It's a momentum creator, it's going to bring energy to our group and we're fortunate to be in that situation."