CRANBERRY TWP. Pa. - Sunday’s Penguins practice had plenty of the usual stuff - line drills, a few veteran absences, some injury returns - but the moment that stuck with Dan Muse came from a child in a Halloween costume.
After practice, Pittsburgh held a family skate, and kids of players and staff came through the dressing room to trick-or-treat while the players handed out candy and, in some cases, helped themselves to the buckets. Muse got the day’s best question from assistant coach Nick Bonino’s daughter, who is about five or six.
“What is your favorite candy?” she asked.
Muse answered with Snickers.
It was that kind of day around the team: loose, loud and a little chaotic in the best way. Fourteen players were on the second rink, where they played 2v2 and 3v3 on a third of the ice and even spent time arguing about the outcomes.
One of the biggest debates came when Tommy Novak took a coach’s pass out of the air and beat Arturs Silovs before anyone could get organized. The puck struck the back bar and bounced out, which set off questions from the losing side about whether it counted.
It did. PHN was in a good spot and later confirmed the goal, and even Muse had to join the losers’ push-ups after Novak’s team came away with the win.
Maybe it was the feel of back-to-back wins. Maybe it was the family skate that followed. Either way, Muse said the team used the day the way it was supposed to.
“We don’t have a lot of (practice time) in the season, and so to get a couple of pockets that we know are there, so we want to make sure that we’re taking advantage of those pockets,” Muse said. “And for some guys, it’s also going a little bit less. We saw that today.”
The practice group was light on veteran names. Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell were not out there. Evgeni Malkin was, after missing Saturday’s 3-2 OT win over Nashville with an illness.
The most notable additions were Malkin, Egor Chinakhov and Justin Brazeau. Chinakhov had been day-to-day, while Brazeau returned in full contact after being sidelined since a lower-body injury in preseason. Defenseman Sam Girard skated on his own in the injured “group,” and both he and Brazeau remain on injured reserve.
Brazeau said he’s getting closer after a frustrating start.
“I’m feeling a lot better. Obviously, it’s a tough way to start a year.
I mean, it kind of feels like I’m still in the summer a little bit,” said the 6-foot-6 Brazeau. “(I’m) feeling good.
I’m just kind of taking it day by day and kind of seeing how it’s going.”
Brazeau’s last season was a strong one, with career highs of 18 goals and 18 assists, even though he had to fight through a crowded forward group to secure a roster spot in camp.
One player not on the ice was Ben Kindel. The 19-year-old suffered a vasovagal episode on the team plane home from Salt Lake City on Tuesday and was hospitalized until Thursday. He was in the locker room Sunday and looked to be in good spirits, but he did not skate.
The Penguins are off Monday, with their next team skate scheduled for Tuesday.
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