After a day off on Sunday, the Pens returned to practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Monday morning.
Tom Kuhnhackl was absent from practice after being scratched for Saturday's 2-1 overtime loss to Toronto, and head coach Mike Sullivan said the forward is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Eric Fehr was reinserted into the lineup in Kuhnhackl's place, showcasing the tremendous depth the Pens have this season. "We have a very competitive roster," Sullivan said. "We have capable guys and there's competition for spots. For me, what we're looking for, depending on the player, the role, or whatever it may be, we're trying to make the best decisions that we can based on the availability of the people we have that we think will give us the best chance to win on any given night. That may change week to week, it all depends. I always said performance is always the dictator." "We're looking for certain production out of types of roles on the team, whether that is offensive guys, penalty killers or defending players. Everybody is in this locker room for a reason. They bring something to the table that make this team what it is. We have a competitive roster right now, so we're just trying to make the best decisions that we think can help this team win. 'Fehrsy' is one of those guys. He's been a good player for us for a long time and he's one of those guys that can help this team win when he plays his best." -The Pens' lines and defensive pairs saw some changes after back-to-back overtime losses: Sheary-Crosby-Hornqvist Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel Kunitz-Malkin-Rust Wilson-Cullen-Fehr Maatta-Dumoulin Cole-Schultz Pouliot (Ruhwedel)-Oleksy - Despite injuries to key players - the Pens are without defensemen Kris Letang (lower-body) and Trevor Daley (upper-body) - the Pens will go head-to-head with the New York Rangers on Tuesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday and the New Jersey Devils on Friday in a weeklong battle of the Metropolitan Division. As of today, the Pens were two points behind the division-leading Rangers with two games in hand, while Columbus is one point behind Pittsburgh with three games in hand. "Obviously we want to be competitive within our division," Sullivan said. "We're trying to take each game as it comes. We're trying to control our own locker room and our own effort each and every night to try and win games, regardless of if they're in our division or out of our division. For me, we can't be concerned about other teams or that type of thing. We have to keep our focus on the task at hand and that's trying to improve and get better every day."
