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Penguins Notebook: Tangradi isn't sure about severity of injury
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Penguins forward Eric Tangradi is tended to by athletic trainer Chris Stewart after taking a hit to the head from Islanders forward Trevor Gillies Friday at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.
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NEW YORK -- He did not, Eric Tangradi said Saturday, have any kind of history with Trevor Gillies of the New York Islanders.
Not until Friday night, anyway.
Not until 4:47 of the third period in the Islanders' 9-3 victory at Nassau Coliseum, when Gillies drove an elbow into Tangradi's head, giving him an apparent concussion, then taunted him.
"I looked up and saw it," Tangradi said. "There's not much I can say about that."
The NHL will have the final say on that incident -- Gillies seems likely to receive a substantial suspension to go along with the elbowing major he was assessed at the time -- but that is a secondary concern for Tangradi at the moment.
He not only had to leave the Islanders game because of his injury, but has been ruled out of the Penguins' game against the New York Rangers at 3:08 p.m. today at Madison Square Garden.
Tangradi said he has had no first-hand knowledge about concussions, and isn't sure how severe his injury might be.
"It's too early to tell," he said. "I've never had anything like this happen before, so I can't go by experience or how I'm feeling. So I'm just taking it day by day, and be as honest as I can about the situation."
Friday evening, the Penguins were in a train wreck of a hockey game.
Saturday morning, they were in a bus accident.
Kind of a disturbing pattern there.
Fortunately for all concerned, no one was injured when the driver of the bus taking them from Madison Square Garden to an outdoor rink in Central Park, where they practiced, sideswiped a car.
The driver did have to stop to file a damage report, however, so players filed off the bus and flagged down cabs to take them the rest of the way.
"That's definitely a first," defenseman Deryk Engelland said. "It kind of added to the experience, I guess."
Tyler Kennedy has 11 goals this season, the most of any Penguins player who will be in the lineup today.
Pascal Dupuis is right behind him with 10, but with one key distinction: The Penguins are 8-1 when Dupuis scores. (He had a two-goal game Oct. 30).
Makes it tough to overlook the connection between Dupuis being involved in the offense and the Penguins earning a couple of points.
"I guess I need to score in the next game, then," Dupuis said.
The Penguins put on their practice gear, then changed back into street clothes, at the Garden Saturday.
And because a musical act performing there in the evening was using the visiting team's locker room, the Penguins were allowed to set up in the Rangers' facilities.
"It's very nice that they let us have this," goalie Brent Johnson said.
If the Penguins were ill at ease in another team's quarters, it didn't show.
And while the Rangers are known for giving their players the best working conditions possible, the Penguins didn't seem jealous of anything about New York's locker room when compared to their room at Consol Energy Center.
"I think we have everything," Johnson said. "They did it fine in Pittsburgh. They did it just perfect."
With Tangradi injured and Eric Godard suspended, the Penguins recalled winger Tim Wallace from their minor league team in Wilkes-Barre. Wallace has two assists in 19 career appearances in the NHL. ... Defenseman Kris Letang, who took a nasty slash on his right foot/ankle from New York center John Tavares Friday night, said he will not miss any games, despite significant pain and swelling.
First Published February 13, 2011 12:00 am
