Penguins notebook: Forward Jason Zucker makes immediate impact in his return

After missing three consecutive games because of an undisclosed injury, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jason Zucker returned to the lineup in Saturday’s 7-4 home win against the New York Rangers in Game 3 of a first-round playoff series at PPG Paints Arena.

And he made a pretty immediate impact. At least on the bodies of a handful of Rangers defenseman.

The Penguins’ first goal at 1 minute, 57 seconds of the first period by forward Brock McGinn was generated in part by Zucker.

Rushing in on a forecheck, Zucker (5-foot-11, 192 pounds) dropped Rangers defenseman Patrik Nemeth (6-foot-4, 230 pounds) on the end boards and allowed the Penguins to establish possession on a sequence that eventually led to McGinn banking a backhander off Nemeth and into the cage.

Later in the period, Zucker leveled Rangers standout defenseman Adam Fox in the left corner, then drove to the net, drawing a high-sticking penalty from forward Andrew Copp at the 8:58 mark. The Penguins’ Evan Rodrigues scored his team’s third goal of the contest on the ensuing power play.

Despite logging one of the lower ice-time figures on the team (13:11 on 19 shifts), Zucker led the team with seven hits.

“He was a big part of the game (Saturday) night,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said via video conference Sunday. “He brought us a lot of energy. He obviously plays the game with an edge. He brings a certain level of physicality to our team. And he helps us get momentum. (Zucker) had a real strong game for us. He’s an important part of our team for a lot of reasons. He plays that north-south speed game. He’s good in the battle areas. He has a game that is conducive to playoff hockey.

“I thought he brought it (Saturday) night for us.”

Rickard Rakell progressing

AP

Penguins right wing Rickard Rakell (67) is helped off the ice by forward Sidney Crosby (87) and others after being checked by New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren during the first period of Game 1 of a first-round playoff series at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

Sunday was a scheduled off day for the Penguins, but injured forward Rickard Rakell worked out on the ice with skating and skills development coach Ty Hennes, according to Sullivan. Rakell has not played since suffering a presumed head injury during Game 1 on Tuesday.

Sullivan described Rakell as “continuing to make progress.”

Injured goaltender Tristan Jarry (right foot) and defenseman Brian Dumoulin (undisclosed) remain status quo. Dumoulin has missed the past two games, and Jarry has not played since April 14.

On Saturday, Jarry worked out on the ice in full gear before an optional morning skate for the first time since being injured. He had a scheduled day off in his recovery process Sunday.

Sullivan acknowledged the logistical challenges of rehabilitating injured players during the fury of the postseason.

“At this time of year, it’s difficult to get any players into game-real scenarios just because of the nature of the schedule and the challenges that it presents,” Sullivan said.

“We’re playing every other night. It’s the hardest hockey that you could possibly play. Playoff hockey, it’s physical. It’s taxing in every way, emotionally, physically. So the recovery process is such an important aspect of trying to put your team in positions to be successful. As a result of that, it’s hard to have real substantive practices where you’ve got game-real scenarios going on in a practice environment. That’s just one of the challenges when players are returning to play regardless of who that player is. Tristan is no different in that regard.”

Domingue gets involved offensively

Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

Penguins goaltender Louis Domingue makes a save during the second period against the New York Rangers during Game 3 of a first-round playoff series at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

On Rodrigues’ power-play goal at 10:31 of the first period, goaltender Louis Domingue registered the secondary assist.

He became the fifth goaltender in franchise history to record an assist in a postseason game, joining Tom Barrasso (seven), Marc-Andre Fleury (two), Frank Pietrangelo (one) and Ken Wregget (one).

The Penguins went exactly nine years in between goaltender assists. Before Saturday, the last one was recorded by Fleury, who had a secondary assist on a goal by forward Evgeni Malkin during a 6-4 road loss to the New York Islanders in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series May 7, 2013.

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