Penguins/NHL
PLAYER UPDATES
Jordan Staal skated with his teammates for the second straight day and while no timeline or timetable has been established, things are moving into the direction where the Penguins expect to establish one by Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
“Every day he’s {Jordan Staal| out there I tell him I’m happy to have him out there. We’ll see how he reacts, and how his hand reacts in the next few days as for a timeline, ” Bylsma said.
Elsewhere on the injury front, Arron Asham is likely to be an option to play tomorrow night against Atlanta.
Brent Johnson is now battling an illness as he recovers from his groin injury. However, Johnson is expected back this week. John Curry remains up with the team for now.
Eric Godard (left eye) and Craig Adams (maintenance day) did not practice.
SECONDARY SCORING NOT A CONCERN
The Pittsburgh Penguins rank 6th in the NHL in goals per game at 3.14 GAA and there is no concern from Dan Bylsma about the Penguins secondary scoring after the likes of Sidney Crosby.
“I don’t know where our rank is today in the league for goals but I can safely say it’s top three, ” Bylsma said.
“We’re certainly having one guy who’s having exceptional year….. but in order to be at the top you need goals from a lot of different areas.
“We don’t have five guys that are carrying the load. It’s a group of probably 19 other guys who are filling in behind where Sid’s pace is at, and that allows us to be a team that’s in the top three of goals scored. There are guys that maybe are going to do more in the second half but as a team, how we played has given our team a chance to get the goals when we need it.”
PENS WON’T OVER ANALYZE OTTAWA LOSS
I wouldn’t look for the Penguins to review any extra tape from the Ottawa game. The first game after the holiday break is always a tough one to evaluate especially when playing on the road.
“It’s probably one of the times of the season where you circle on your calendar and you aren’t sure of how they’re going to play out as a coach, ” Bylsma said.
