CHICAGO — The Pittsburgh Penguins will likely make a transaction Sunday afternoon so they may activate center Blake Lizotte. Still, coach Dan Muse curiously declined to discuss Lizotte’s status Sunday at the morning skate before the Penguins visit the Chicago Blackhawks.
Lizotte had a stall in the Penguins’ dressing room Sunday morning. Danton Heinen did not.
Update: The Penguins have placed Heinen on waivers and activated Lizotte. Heinen has been with the team for more than 30 days and will need to clear waivers.
It would seem an easy flip to return Heinen back to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, though coach Dan Muse hedged after the morning skate.
“So, we’re still finalizing roster decisions,” Muse said.
Heinen and Kevin Hayes were the extra forwards at practice Saturday, and Hayes not only has been in the lineup ahead of Heinen, but also had a stall Sunday.
The Penguins have won only one game since Lizotte and Evgeni Malkin suffered injuries against the Dallas Stars on Dec. 7 (1-5-4). The penalty kill has fallen from fourth overall to 18th, before recently improving slightly to 14th.
Layoff Pitfalls
Jeremy Roenick once described the first game after a bye week as “playing with a piano on my back.”
The five-day layoff can make the best teams look like dead-legged amateurs, and the Penguins don’t exactly have a string of wins behind them on which they can rest their laurels.
No, the Penguins need wins. Chicago played Saturday against the Dallas Stars and not only got their first win in seven games, doing so without the injured Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, but got the first game out of the way.
“I don’t know if simplify (is the right word). I think we want to be playing–the first part of the first period, you definitely want to get yourself into it, playing connected and supporting each other and reading off of each other,” Muse said. “I think having a practice, like we did yesterday, I think there’s some benefit to that. That’s not always the case; the great majority of the league doesn’t have that.”
Muse liked the team’s tempo and energy at Saturday’s practice, and would never admit to playing a wounded opponent, but a win may very well be an imperative Sunday. Or more transactions might follow sooner than later.
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