Penguins forwards Brian Boyle, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust return to practice

Penguins forwards Brian Boyle, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust rejoined their teammates for practice on Monday in Cranberry.

All three – as well as forward Evgeni Malkin - wore white non-contact jerseys for the session.

Boyle has missed the past two games due to an undisclosed injury.

Guentzel (right hand) and Rust (undisclosed) are currently on injured reserve. After blocking a shot with his hand on Dec. 6, Guentzel has missed the past five games. As for Rust, he has not played since Nov. 24 and has missed the past 11 games.

Coach Mike Sullivan indicated there was no official change in their statuses. Boyle has previously been labeled as “day to day” while Guentzel and Rust were initially described as longer term.

Malkin remains on long-term injured reserve as he recovers from offseason surgery to his right knee. He has been a steady presence at practice for the better part of two weeks.

Forward Jason Zucker was absent from practice for what was termed as a maintenance day. After missing practice on Saturday for the same reason, he played in Sunday’s 3-2 road win against the New Jersey Devils and recorded a secondary assist on the Penguins’ second goal.

Skating and skills development coach Ty Hennes continues to remain in protocol for covid-19 though is said to be improving. Sullivan indicated his symptoms have been mild and he may be released from protocol within the next two days.

There were no line or pair rushes in Monday’s practice session which lasted just over a half hour.

The top power-play unit included Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Danton Heinen, Kris Letang and Evan Rodrigues. The second power-play unit involved Kasperi Kapanen, John Marino, Mike Matheson, Drew O’Connor and Dominik Simon.

Tristan Jarry gets rare penalty

During Sunday’s game, Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry recorded his first penalty minutes of the season at 7:01 of the second period when he was assessed a double minor for butt ending Devils defenseman Mason Geertsen near the benches during a television stoppage. Geertsen was given a roughing minor as a result of the confrontation.

The two are friends dating back to their junior days as teammates with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) roughly a decade ago. Jarry suggested the episode was akin to a love tap with unintended consequences.

“He skated over and I tried to get him with a nudge,” said Jarry, who indicated he and Geertsen live near one another in Alberta. “And ended up catching him with my stick. That’s all that really came of it.”

Of the 26 players who have appeared in a game for the Penguins this season, backup goaltender Casey DeSmith and forward Evan Rodrigues are the only ones who have yet to record a penalty.

Penguins score first short-handed goal

Forward Teddy Blueger scored the Penguins’ first short-handed goal of the season on Sunday. Stealing a Devils’ pass near his own blue line, Blueger created his own breakaway and opened the contest’s scoring at 9:19 of the first period.

While the Penguins’ have the league’s best penalty kill in terms of successfully turning away opposing power-play opportunities at 93.4%, they are one of 11 NHL teams with one or fewer short-handed goals.

They seem to be more comfortable with that ratio.

“The priority on the (penalty kill) is to defend,” Blueger said to media in Newark, N.J. on Sunday. “Obviously, you want to score as much as you can. Overall, I thought we had some looks that we haven’t been able to score on, a couple of breakaways, things like that. I don’t know if there is an ideal balance. Obviously, you want to score as much as you can but you prioritize keeping it out of your own net first.”

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