Left winger Matt Cooke will be back in his usual spot on the Penguins' third line tonight.

Precisely where his head will be when they face Chicago at Mellon Arena is a little tougher to say.

Cooke has completed a two-game suspension assessed for delivering a blow to the head of New York Rangers forward Artem Anisimov a week ago, and he said yesterday that he expects to be dealing with some pent-up adrenaline and passion when he gets back on the ice.

"It will be a challenge for me to harness my emotions a little bit," he said. "It's a special night because I'm coming back.

"When you're in the grind and just playing, your nerves aren't usually there. But I might get a little nervous."

Coach Dan Bylsma, though, doesn't seem the least bit uneasy about having Cooke assume his usual duties.

"What Matt Cooke does for our team and what he does for that line is pretty important to that line's success," he said.

Chris Bourque's tenure with the Penguins is over.

At least for now, and maybe forever.

The Penguins have placed him on waivers and, if he goes unclaimed by noon today, plan to assign him to their American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre.

Bourque, 23, was claimed off waivers from Washington shortly before the start of the regular season, but he averaged nine minutes and 34 seconds of ice time in 20 appearances and managed zero goals, three assists and a plus-minus rating of minus-4.

Chicago, which played host to Nashville at the United Center last evening, will be the fourth consecutive team to visit Mellon Arena after playing elsewhere the previous night.

The Penguins, who are on a 5-0 roll at Mellon Arena, obviously benefit from facing an opponent forced to battle that fatigue.

"We'll take it all year long," defenseman Jay McKee said.

"But like Dan [Bylsma] says, it's not an advantage unless you exploit it."

Cooke's return means that Mike Rupp will be going back to his usual spot on the fourth line with Craig Adams and Eric Godard tonight, but that might not be the only place he turns up.

With four goals in the past six games, Rupp has added an offensive component to a game built primarily around rugged play and responsible defense, so Bylsma is reluctant to pigeon-hole him.

"He'll be used like he was the last two games," Bylsma said. "When he scored his third goal [in New York Monday] and when he [got] his assist [Thursday], he was up with [Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby].

"Mike's been used [occasionally] to go up on different lines, and I think we saw the success he had. He just may get himself a few more shifts up."

McKee lost the shootout competition at the end of the Penguins' practice before a crowd of about 7,000 elementary- and middle-school students at Mellon Arena yesterday.

Rather than having to serve post-practice beverages in the locker room or grow a moustache for the next month, McKee had to swap his skates for sneakers and run up and down the aisles at Mellon Arena, high-fiving members of the crowd.

He didn't mind.

"There are some other ones we have I certainly don't want to lose, but that was OK."

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