It won't be known until sometime today whether Sergei Gonchar will be able to dress when the Penguins face Philadelphia at 7:38 tonight at Mellon Arena.

The odds on Gonchar, who has missed three games because of a bruised bone in his leg, playing this evening are infinitely better than those of him having a new contract by nightfall, however.

General manager Ray Shero said yesterday that while he continues to negotiate with the agents for Gonchar, who can be unrestricted July 1, and fellow defenseman Kris Letang, who will be restricted if not re-signed by then, agreements are not near.

"[Talks] are kind of ongoing, I guess you could say," Shero said. "Nothing is imminent on any front."

He added that no date has been set to break off talks if they don't yield an agreement.

"These things, hopefully, take care of themselves," Shero said. "There's certainly no deadline.

"We're hoping we can retain both players. With Kris, hopefully it's just a matter of time because [the Penguins can match any offer he would receive from another team], but you never know."

Gonchar went through a full practice yesterday and said he expects to decide after the game-day skate if he can play tonight.

"I'm making progress every day," he said. "But it's still going to be a game-time decision."

Gonchar said the Brian Rolston shot that injured him struck "a bone where there's no protection, so it's painful."

Assistant coach Mike Yeo, stricken with an unspecified ailment while the Penguins were in Florida last weekend, is due back at work this morning.

Shero said a series of tests on Yeo turned up nothing amiss, and that there will be no restrictions on what he can do.

"He'll be here [today]," Shero said. "I think everything is clear. All the tests they ran on him came back negative. ... Everything checked out well."

Surgery yesterday to repair left winger Chris Kunitz's torn abdominal muscle was pronounced "successful," and his prognosis didn't change.

Kunitz still is expected to be out four to six weeks, and the Penguins seem prepared to be without him until after the Olympic break next month.

The Penguins' U.S.-born players and coaches savored Team USA's overtime victory against Canada in the gold-medal game at the world junior tournament in Saskatoon Tuesday night, but apparently they were subdued in their celebration.

"We had an 'America the Beautiful' song going," defenseman Mark Eaton said. "That was about it."

Players and staffers watched the end of the game on a television in the locker room and center Sidney Crosby, who twice represented Canada in the tournament, described the postgame reactions by teammates from the winning country as "nothing out of the ordinary."

Which doesn't mean they didn't enjoy the outcome. A lot.

"It's nice to have bragging rights," Eaton said. "For right now, anyhow."

Although Philadelphia entered its game against Toronto last night tied for 12th place in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers were on a 4-1-1 roll before facing the Maple Leafs and are moving back into contention for a playoff berth.

"It's not surprising at all," Crosby said. "They're a good hockey team."

So are the Penguins, when they're playing to their potential, and that usually isn't a problem when facing a rival like the Flyers.

"We should be focused on playing a solid game, playing an energized game and an emotional game," coach Dan Bylsma said.

Bylsma said forward Max Talbot and Ruslan Fedotenko were excused from yesterday's practice for "maintenance days," but both underwent examinations to determine if their injuries are significant. ... The Penguins will collect money for the Penn Hills Fallen Heroes Fund before tonight's game.

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