The Penguins will determine today whether Ruslan Fedotenko will be able to play tonight at Carolina, although the left winger sounded confident when asked about an apparent right shoulder problem after practice yesterday at Southpointe.

"I look great and I feel great," Fedotenko said, with a wide grin.

He skipped the optional skate Thursday to have the shoulder evaluated. Yesterday, instead of working with center Jordan Staal and right winger Tyler Kennedy -- his linemates recently -- Fedotenko was part of a four-man, fourth-line rotation;Pascal Dupuis practiced with Staal and Kennedy.

Interim coach Dan Bylsma said the medical evaluation of Fedotenko "came back in a positive way" and added that "just like everyone else, he's banged up and bruised, but he was healthy and ready to go [for practice]."

Fedotenko missed the third period of the 6-1 win Wednesday against New Jersey after absorbing a hit from the Devils' Bobby Holik.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said he is willing and able to play in back-to-back games. The Penguins play tomorrow at Florida, 22 hours after the start of the game tonight.

"I think we've been lucky with the schedule," he said. "We've been having a couple days between games."

It will be the Penguins' final set of games on consecutive days this regular season. They are 5-3-3 in the first half of back-to-back games, 5-5-1 in the second and have not swept two such games in 11 chances.

Bylsma was noncommittal about whether backup Mathieu Garonmight play tomorrow. If Garon starts, it would be his first start in the past eight games and his third start and fourth appearance since being acquired Jan. 17 from Edmonton.

"Certainly, we've talked about it, talked about fatigue and the situation we're in as a team," Bylsma said. "Yes, we're thinking about it. Marc's going to be going [tonight], and we'll go from there."

The Penguins signed two players out of Northeastern and assigned them to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

Goaltender Brad Thiessen, 23, one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, signed a two-year entry-level contract after playing all 41 games for the Huskies, going 25-12-4 with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage.

Center Joe Vitale, a seventh-round NHL draft pick by the Penguins in 2005, signed a one-year entry-level contract.

He had seven goals, 27 points for Northeastern and was named Hockey East's best defensive forward.

All four Staal brothers are playing pro for the first time. Jared, youngest brother of Jordan (Penguins), Marc (New York Rangers) and Eric (Carolina) signed a tryout contract with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL.

Jared Staal, 18, was a second-round pick by Phoenix in the NHL draft last year.