Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar believes the check that will force him to miss most of the 2008-09 season was "kind of a late hit."

Gonchar, his left arm in a sling, said yesterday that he was not expecting the blow Tampa Bay winger David Koci delivered in the Penguins' first preseason game Sept. 20.

"I made a pass and was skating without the puck," he said. "[Koci] came from kind of behind ... and hit me, and I flew into the boards."

Gonchar will spend the next four to six months recovering from the surgery needed to repair his dislocated left shoulder and shied away from speculating on when he'll be able to resume playing.

"It's really hard to set a target because, with the recovery, you don't know how you're going to heal," he said.

Gonchar has been working out to try to maintain his conditioning and the strength in his legs and upper body and said he isn't feeling too bad these days.

"I feel better now," he said. "It was painful the first couple of days -- I didn't sleep much -- but now I'm fine. Pain-wise, at least."

No. 1 center Sidney Crosby and his new linemates, Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, showed few signs of jelling in the two games against Ottawa last weekend in Sweden.

Crosby, though, said that's understandable, given that Satan and Fedotenko spent last season with the New York Islanders, and declined to predict when the line reasonably could be expected to mesh.

"There's never a set amount of time," he said. "It really depends. It's one of those things where you just have to do all the things you can to be successful -- communicate, go over as much as you can in practices and talk during the games.

"They're coming in, and it's somewhat of a new system. They have to get comfortable on their own first before we can even think, as a line, of becoming better. I think we've made some steps in the right direction this week."

The Penguins' game tonight against New Jersey isn't their season opener -- technically, it's not the home opener, either, since they were designated the home club for their 3-1 loss Sunday in Stockholm -- but it is generating the kind of excitement the first game of the season usually does.

"It does feel like the opener," defenseman Rob Scuderi said. "That was kind of a fun trip for us [to Sweden], and the games were real and they counted, but this feels more like home, like an NHL feel."

Fox Chapel native Bill Thomas, who figures to man a wing on the fourth line tonight, has played at Mellon Arena a few times, but this game -- his first regular-season one as a member of the Penguins -- obviously will be special.

Its significance, though, is not reflected by how many tickets he had to come up with for friends and family members.

As of early yesterday afternoon, he placed the total at "just five."

That does not mean, however, that the entire contingent cheering for Thomas could travel to the game in a subcompact.

"My friends are nice," he said. "They buy their own. A lot of people I know have season tickets. They come anyway. They're fans."

Actually, it's a good thing for Thomas that he didn't have to round up too many tickets: Counting playoffs, the game tonight will be the Penguins' 68th consecutive home sellout.

Crosby, on the Penguins' Eastern Conference championship banner: "It's not the one we wanted, but it's still somewhat of an accomplishment." ... Right winger Petr Sykora, who will sit out his third game in a row because of a groin injury, skated with conditioning coach Mike Kadar before practice. ... Crosby's grandmothers have traveled here for the first time to see him play and will attend the game tonight. ... Forward Joey Haddad, who attended the Penguins' prospect camp on a tryout, signed a three-year, entry-level contract and was returned to his major-junior team in Cape Breton.