Rowney steps toward return
Penguins forward Carter Rowney took one step toward returning to the lineup when he joined the team for its morning skate Saturday before a game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Rowney was in a white, no-contact jersey and said he didn’t have a timetable for his return — he has missed the past 12 games with a fractured hand — but he said it felt good to get back, even in a limited capacity.
“I think today was a good step,” Rowney said. “I’ve been making progress here these last couple of days, and it was good to be back out today with the team.”
Rowney got hurt blocking a shot in the Penguins’ 7-1 loss Oct. 21 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was ruled out for at least four weeks at the time.
“It was unfortunate where it got me,” Rowney said. “I’m lucky enough that I’ve been progressing and hope to be back soon.”
Because it was a hand injury, Rowney said he only had to take two days off the ice. Since then, he has been skating regularly on his own.
Saturday morning, though, gave him a chance to start getting back in rhythm with his teammates. He said he had no problems handling the puck, making passes or taking shots.
“I think the last few days, I’ve been able to handle the puck well,” Rowney said. “It’s not really limiting me right now, and I think today was a good step in the right direction. I’ll take it one step at a time now.”
As for when he might return, the Penguins generally require players coming back from injury to go through at least one fullcontact practice before being upgraded to “game-time decision” and put back in the lineup.
“I’ve got to talk it over with the medical staff and the doctors, see what the next step is,” Rowney said. “For right now I’m kind of limited out there on the ice, no contact.
“Just trying to get the pace of the game back, try and get inserted back with the team and get my legs under me with the team, doing the drills and the full practice.”
Revenge game
The Penguins’ previous game against the Blackhawks was memorable for all the wrong reasons. A 101 loss in Chicago in the second game of the season marked the Penguins’ worst loss in 14 years, and the most goals they had allowed in more than two decades.
“You never want to get embarrassed,” defenseman Ian Cole said. “They embarrassed us.”
Going into Saturday night, the Penguins were looking forward to getting some measure of revenge.
“They beat us pretty easy last time,” winger Patric Hornqvist said. “We all know about that and we want to get back at them tonight.”
The teams only play twice a year, and have not met in a playoff series since 1992. But as the league’s two most successful franchises of the salary cap era, they still provide a sort of measuring stick for one another — even if you throw out last month’s lopsided loss.
“Listen, this is a good team we’re playing,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We should have plenty of motivation to want to play the game the right way, just with where we’re at in the schedule and how we’re trying to play and gain some traction.
“We’ve had a few strong games here that we’ve put together. We’ve strung a couple of wins and we certainly want to continue in that regard.
“I think there’s a lot of reasons for us to want to play hard tonight, but any time you’re on the wrong side of that type of a score, I think it’s certainly a situation where you’d like to respond the right way.”
Hunwick returning
Defenseman Matt Hunwick played Saturday against the Blackhawks, skating on the Penguins’ second defense pairing with Ian Cole. Hunwick had missed the past 15 games with a concussion.
He returned to practice this month in Edmonton, but was never cleared for game action.
After a couple of days off the ice last week, though, he came back to practice and was cleared to play.
Maatta sick
Defenseman Olli Maatta missed the morning skate Saturday. Sullivan said he “wasn’t feeling well,” but was back in the lineup by game time.