With the playoffs now less than three weeks away, the Penguins appear to be getting healthy at the right time.
Both Dominik Simon and Zach Aston-Reese returned to practice with the team for its morning skate Friday, and Simon seems likely to return to the lineup Friday night against New Jersey.
“Feel good,” Simon said. “I’ve been off for two weeks. It was actually tough because there was a lot of practicing in the gym and that stuff, but it’s never like a game. I’m excited to be back and excited to play a game.”
Simon has missed the last six games with a lower-body injury he sustained March 7 in Philadelphia. He has spent the last couple of weeks working out in the gym, skating on his own and doing work with the team’s skills coach, Ty Hennes.
“I was in the gym every day and I had a lot of practices on the ice, too,” Simon said. “It’s not like you jump on the ice after two weeks of nothing. It feels good to be on the ice with guys. I feel ready.”
He took line rushes Friday morning at right wing the Penguins’ fourth line, alongside Tom Kuhnhackl and Riley Sheahan. If he does in fact play in that spot against the Devils, he could inject an element of speed and offense to the bottom of the Penguins’ lineup.
“He’s got really good offensive instincts,” Mike Sullivan said. “For a guy that’s not that big, he’s pretty strong on the puck. He’s a real good playmaker, he brings an offensive dimension and he’s really worked on his 200-foot game over the past couple of seasons. He’s improving in that area, as well.”
Aston-Reese, meanwhile, will miss his 12th consecutive game with an upper-body injury Friday, but he’s hoping to not watch too many more from the press box after that.
Aston-Reese was injured in practice in late February. While he was on the ice for the Penguins’ skate Friday morning, he did not participate in line rushes and was the last player off the ice.
He said he hopes to return to the lineup within “the next week.”
“It was nice to be back with the team,” Aston-Reese said. “I’ve been skating on my own a lot the last couple of weeks. But just get the hands going and the legs going, getting the pace down again.”
Aston-Reese only played in 10 NHL games before his injury, but had four goals and two assists in that brief stretch.
“It’s always tough,” he said. “I only played 10 games, so you get a little taste and then an injury just sidelines you for a bit. I think the staff has done a good job and we did our best to stay on top of it, stay in shape.”
It’s unclear how, exactly, Aston-Reese would fit into the Penguins’ lineup when he’s healthy enough to return. He could slot into the bottom six, or he could get another crack up top with Sidney Crosby’s lineup.
“Zach is a guy that’s a big, strong guy, that’s strong on the wall, that’s good in the battle areas, that’s really good in front of the net,” Sullivan said. “He can kill penalties, he’s a good defensive player, he’s got a good defensive conscience and has awareness away from the puck. He brings that dimension to our team.”
Whoever they end up fitting in, both Aston-Reese and Simon are happy to be getting back as the team gears up for its playoff run.
“Everybody knows what we need,” Simon said. “These points are huge. Definitely it’s a great time to be here and to play these games.”
And for his part, Sullivan is glad to have them back (or close to it).
“Two different types of players,” he said. “But two players that we think can help our team and certainly make our team a better team.”
More work coming for Murray
The next few weeks should give Matt Murray an opportunity to get into a playoff-type schedule. Starting with Friday’s contest against the Devils, the Penguins will have games on every other day for the next week, effectively simulating what the schedule will look like in the postseason.
With no back-to-backs or long layoffs, Murray is likely in for a good amount of consistent, steady work.
“Matt’s going to get a fair amount of hockey here,” Sullivan said. “He’s our No. 1 guy, he’s a real good goalie. We think he gives us a real good chance to win each and every night when he’s in the lineup. We’re going to take each game as it comes.”
Step up in competition
After back-to-back games against two teams out of playoff contention — the Islanders and Canadiens — this week, the Penguins will face two opponents in the thick of the postseason hunt this weekend when the Devils and Flyers visit PPG Paints Arena.
Even if there’s an entirely different level of motivation on the opposing bench, Patric Hornqvist said the Penguins shouldn’t let it affect them.
“We can’t control what kind of game the opponent’s going to play against us,” Hornqvist said. “The thing we can control, it’s in [here]. It’s our attitude, our work ethic. We just have to make sure we’re on top of our game every single night and try to get better.”
Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG
First Published: March 23, 2018, 4:52 p.m.
