Penguins enter holiday break ready to 'expect the unexpected'

It was the shortest and darkest day of the year.

And it might have been the most fun day of the year for the Penguins.

Or the past nine days, at least.

On the eve of an impromptu four-day break for the holidays, the Penguins engaged in an enthusiastic practice session that was focused on improving some specific skill sets.

But most of all, it was just good, old-fashioned fun.

When defenseman Brian Dumoulin — far more renowned for his defensive acumen than any offensive attributes — made an impressive maneuver with the puck around forward Drew O’Connor in the neutral zone, mock cheers bellowed from every corner of the rink.

Later in the session, forward Jake Guentzel took a “shift” on a defensive pairing with defenseman Mike Matheson.

Overall, the Penguins practiced formally for roughly 40 minutes. There was definitely a purpose to what they wanted to improve on.

But there was also some silliness.

A lot of silliness, actually.

And that was a welcome change compared to the past week-plus.

With a surge of players and team staffers testing positive for covid-19 since Dec. 13, the NHL paused games and practices starting Wednesday and lasting through Sunday, at least for now.

The Penguins went into the NHL’s holiday break — which was moved up a day and extended to four days — in good spirits.

“Things like that are a lot of fun,” Penguins forward Brian Boyle said. “It’s a great way to kind of get something out of the day when it’s been such a crazy schedule change and things are different. We got some work in and made it a productive day. Hockey’s always fun. It’s always supposed to be fun. We went out there, and today was a little more fun than most practices are.”

While the Penguins don’t have anyone on the NHL roster currently in league protocols for the virus, they had two home games this week postponed because of the league’s overall dilemma. They originally were scheduled to host the Devils on Tuesday and the Flyers on Thursday.

No makeup dates for those contests have been determined as of yet. In total, the NHL has postponed 50 games so far this season.

“I understand it,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. “I would have preferred to keep playing. When you look at our two games and the (opponents’) situations, I think, possibly, we could have kept playing. But it’s not up to us. Try to make the most of the break here and get ready.”

The Penguins are not scheduled to resume team activities until Sunday when they are slated to practice in Boston in advance of a road game against the Bruins on Monday.

There’s no guarantee that game (or more) will go on as planned. But against the context of the past 22 months, that’s nothing new.

“The schedule says what it says now,” Boyle said. “It is what it is now, and we prepare accordingly. That is kind of the approach with the decisions and how they’re made. We’ll just leave it up to the people that make them. We try to prepare with all the information that we have. We’ll prepare like we’re playing Boston on (Dec. 27). That’s really it. That’s all we really can do at this point. … Going back to the first pause (in March of 2020), you just tried to keep yourself in good shape and keep yourself sane, do whatever you can.

“You can kind of expect the unexpected, I guess, at this point.”