Penguins forward Mario Lemieux, who has missed seven of the past eight games because of an irregular heartbeat, could resume skating next week.

Assistant general manager Eddie Johnston said last night that, barring a setback, Lemieux could be playing again in about two weeks.

"He's been good," Johnston said. "It doesn't look like the [off-ice] workouts have been bothering him, so that's a great sign."

General manager Craig Patrick said Lemieux has another round of medical tests coming up, but that he hasn't been briefed on the particulars.

Patrick and Johnston also said that, to their knowledge, doctors haven't settled on the proper dosage of medication to control Lemieux's atrial fibrillation.

Lemieux, who resumed off-ice workouts last week, had another at Mellon Arena yesterday but did not speak with reporters.

Replacement
The Penguins are recalling defenseman Rob Scuderi from their minor-league team in Wilkes-Barre to replace Brooks Orpik, who is out indefinitely with a broken foot.

Scuderi is scheduled to clear re-entry waivers at noon today. He is eligible to be claimed by any team, and the Penguins would be compelled to pay half of his salary.

Air sick
Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney has a promising future. He might even end up with a few endorsements someday.

It's safe to assume he won't be looking for one from the region's dominant air carrier.

Whitney said he was booked on a nonstop USAirways flight Sunday night from Boston to Pittsburgh -- that would have gotten him back in plenty of time for Monday's 2:30 p.m. practice -- but the flight was canceled, without explanation, and he was re-booked on another nonstop Monday morning.

That flight, too, ended up being canceled, and Whitney was put on a plane to Philadelphia, where he was to catch a connecting flight. Trouble is, the flight to Philadelphia was late taking off, and Whitney missed his connection.

To say nothing of practice.

"I ended up flying out of Philly at, like, 4:50 [p.m.]," Whitney said.

"And when I got to Pittsburgh, they lost my bags. ... I will never fly that airline again."

Whitney had not discussed his travel problems at length with coach Michel Therrien as of yesterday morning but did speak with assistant coach Mike Yeo after finally getting to Mellon Arena Monday evening.

"[Therrien] had just left, but [Yeo] was still here, so I talked to him and rode the [stationary] bike for 20 minutes," Whitney said.

"I apologized to [Therrien] this morning. I'm sure he might talk to me later on."

Visual aid
A board displaying the NHL standings, broken down by conference, appeared in the Penguins' locker room yesterday morning.

"All the teams I've coached, we've always had the standings, to make the guys realize [their situation]," Therrien said.

Chances are, though, that no one associated with his team needed visual confirmation that the Penguins sit last in the Eastern Conference.

Slap shots
Left winger Andre Roy was the Penguins' healthy scratch last night. ... The NHL's holiday roster freeze is over, which means teams are free to make trades and send players to the minor leagues. ... Penguins prospect Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist in Russia's 5-1 victory against Sweden at Kelowna, British Columbia, in its first game at the world junior championships.