“Every team has injuries. Fortunately we have depth. It provides opportunities. That’s what makes teams great,” Coach Mike Sullivan said following practice this morning, a day before his Pittsburgh Penguins play host to the New York Rangers.
The Penguins have been fortunate enough to have depth in many positions, but their goaltending situation is being stretched to capacity. Marc-Andre Fleury is now day-to-day and will be evaluated daily following a concussion that has kept him out since his last game on March 31.
Fleury, easily the most consistent player on the team this season, went back to work today practicing between the pipes. After sustaining his second concussion of the season, team doctors and coaches want to be sure he is 100 percent before returning.
Before practice, the netminder was skating on his own for three or four days and was aiming to be back for the final game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh, instead, started Matt Murray, who would leave in the first period after sustaining a hard hit to the head.
Murray, who was riding a hot streak headed into the season finale against the Philadelphia Flyers, has also been listed day-to-day in evaluation. However, he did not practice at all today, and the injury is still undisclosed.
Should neither be available for tomorrow’s game, Jeff Zatkoff will be getting the nod to protect Pittsburgh’s net.
Before the final game against the Flyers, Zatkoff hadn’t seen any action since Feb. 20.
“It was nice to get in and play in a game,” Zatkoff said. “You never want to go in under those circumstances.”
The Penguins are confident in Zatkoff’s ability to open the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Over the course of the season, the 28-year-old goaltender accumulated four wins and seven losses in 14 games. He also had one overtime loss and had a 2.79 goals-against average.
As a precaution, Pittsburgh also recalled Tristan Jarry, a young goaltender who played 33 games for the AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. There is no word on who will end up being the starter for tomorrow’s game against the New York Rangers.
“One of the things that I love about this group that we have is their commitment to the short-term focus of the game in front of them,” Sullivan said. “We certainly learn from our experiences in the past, but we don’t dwell on them.”
The Penguins will need to play perfectly on the defensive side of the puck if Zatkoff gets the start. Only playing a little over two periods since February 20, there will be nerves and rust to shake off.
The first game of the series begins tomorrow night at Consol Energy Center at 8 p.m.
