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Penguins Notebook: Kennedy, Goligoski could return for today's game
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Winger Tyler Kennedy and defenseman Alex Goligoski could return from injury today when the Penguins host Detroit at Mellon Arena, but forward Max Talbot could be back on the shelf.
"They're looking better," coach Dan Bylsma said of his injured players after practice Saturday at Southpointe. "There's a chance we could see a couple of guys [today]."
Kennedy has missed one game, Goligoski the past two. Each has an undisclosed injury. They practiced, with Kennedy taking more of a regular shift than Goligoski, who at times filled in as a winger.
Both said having a few days off helped.
Talbot, who did not practice, presumably is still bothered by a groin injury that kept him out of three games before he returned Thursday in a 4-1 loss to Ottawa. He had just eight shifts in 9:04 of playing time.
Matchup: Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings, 12:38 p.m. today, Mellon Arena.
TV, radio: WPXI, WXDX-FM (105.9).
Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury for Penguins. Jimmy Howard for Red Wings.
Penguins: Are 7-6-1 vs. Western Conference. ... C Evgeni Malkin has 6-game points streak (6 goals, 11 points). ... C Sidney Crosby's 56 giveaways among most in NHL.
Red Wings: Are 6-5-2 vs. Eastern Conference. ... C Pavel Datsyuk leads NHL with 79 takeaways. ... 9.4 penalty minutes per game among lowest in league.
Hidden stat: Derek Meech has the only winning goal among Detroit defensemen.
Bylsma listed Talbot as questionable.
To fill the gaps, the Penguins made what has become nearly a daily transaction, recalling forwards Nick Johnson and Mark Letestu from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. This is Johnson's fourth promotion in the past two weeks -- he has played the past four Penguins games between trips back to the American Hockey League -- and Letestu's third this season.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had not heard about co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle making a recent bid to buy the Pirates from the Nutting family, but he quickly found a reason to like the idea.
"That would be great," Crosby said. "It would be easy to get to batting practice."
The Pirates have said the baseball club is not for sale.
Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik had heard the news about the offer and tried to bite his tongue as best he could when expressing his support for the possible sale of the Pirates, who have had 17 consecutive losing seasons.
"I don't want to stick my nose where it shouldn't be, but I'm a big baseball fan, and they have one of the nicest ballparks here, so it would probably be a good change for the fans," Orpik said. "I'll leave it at that."
Lemieux watched practice but did not speak with reporters.
This is the second of three consecutive Sundays that the Penguins have a midday start as part of an NBC telecast. That creates upheaval in players' routines.
"It's important to know when the best time to wake up is or the best time to eat is," Bylsma said. "It's much different for a 12:30 game than it is for even a 3 o'clock game."
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The coach pointed out that getting up for such an early game is similar to getting up for a practice day. Then there are the meals and naps.
"You try to do the same type of body clock that you would do for a 7 o'clock game," Bylsma said. "We tend to eat at 12, 12:30, 1 for a 7 o'clock game. We do the pasta and chicken for a game day."
He noted that there will have to be adjustments. After all, it's doubtful the Penguins will get up before 6 a.m.
"I don't think guys will be waking up at 5, but I know some guys will be setting the alarm a little bit earlier than normal," Bylsma said.
This farewell message was scrawled on the dry-erase board in the Penguins dressing room: It's been nice knowing you.
It was from Bill Guerin's moustache.
After losing a designated monthly shootout contest, Guerin couldn't shave his upper lip during January, and the resulting growth became a popular topic around the team.
After today's game, Guerin will be allowed to shave the moustache -- which, coupled with his taste for 1970s music, conjured images of Guerin in a leisure suit drinking a Yoo-Hoo and hawking used Gremlins.
The "moustache boy" shootout for February was held Saturday, with winger Ruslan Fedotenko finishing last. This will be Fedotenko's second moustache assignment of the season.
First Published January 31, 2010 12:00 am
