Dumoulin, Marino take part in practice
LOS ANGELES — The Penguins welcomed two fresh faces to practice Tuesday. And no, that’s not referring to their three tradedeadline acquisitions.
Defensemen Brian Dumoulin and John Marino returned to practice Tuesday at the Toyota Performance Center, the practice rink for the Los Angeles Kings. Each wore a white non-contact jersey. Their presence suggested that both are on track to return to game action in the near future, though probably not on this trip.
For Dumoulin, it was his first practice in nearly three months. It was also the first time he spoke with the media since he suffered his freak injury Nov. 30 in St. Louis during an awkward collision. And, yeah, the details are gruesome.
On his first shift that night in St. Louis, Dumoulin got tangled with Blues forward Zach Sanford behind his net. Sanford landed on the back of his legs and a skate blade sliced into Dumoulin’s left leg, lacerating tendons in his left ankle.
“I don’t even think he realized what happened,” Dumoulin said. “It was a bangbang play and it was unfortunate, very unlucky. It’s just the way she goes sometimes.”
Dumoulin struggled to get onto his skates and then, in obvious pain, he grabbed at the back of his lower left leg as he glided back into the play. He knew something was wrong. His fears were confirmed when he reached the bench.
“I put my leg up and you could just see the blood all over my skate and my tongue [of my skate],” said the 28-year-old, who has been sidelined the past 34 games. “I knew at that point, obviously, that something major had happened.”
Dumoulin said he got stitched up on site by a team doctor at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The next day, Dec. 1, he underwent surgery at UPMC Presbyterian. The team said then that he would miss at least eight weeks..
“I know where I was at those eight weeks,” he said. “I wasn’t ready to come back right then. … This isn’t a bruise or something like that. This is a couple of torn tendons. I’ve never had that, and it’s not like they deal with that injury a lot.”
Dumoulin had been spotted more frequently at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex over the past three weeks. Coach Mike Sullivan said Dumoulin stepped back onto the ice more than a week ago and has continued to skate on an individual basis.
“Everything feels good. That’s been a good thing so far,” he said. “Obviously, you don’t really know how it’s going to go when you first get out there.”
Tuesday, the steady defenseman finally was able to practice with his teammates
“I haven’t been out that long ever in my career,” he said, adding, “I’m really, really excited to be back. It was a blessing being able to spend that time with my wife and my newborn baby. So that was amazing. … But I definitely want to get back with the team and start playing some games and having some fun.”
Dumoulin still has some hurdles to clear to get there. After a three-month layoff, he will need to participate in multiple practices to get his conditioning, timing and hands back to a suitable level. He also must get re-acclimated to contact.
Dumoulin won’t play against Los Angeles and expecting him to play in Anaheim or San Jose this weekend is probably ambitious. But his return is not far off.
“It’s been a long time,” he said, “but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Marino, meanwhile, was back at practice 15 days after he had surgery to repair broken bones in his face. He wore a full, clear shield to protect his face.
“It’s a little bit of an adjustment,” he said. “I used it in college. It is a little harder to see the puck … but the more you skate with it, the more used to it you get.”
Marino had surgery Feb. 10, four days after he took a slap shot to the left cheek from Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos.
“It’s kind of a scary situation. You just hope for the best,” Marino said. “We didn’t really know [the extent of the damage] until we got an X-ray. But we were lucky we were able to fix it pretty quick and get back on the ice as soon as possible.”
After a “successful” surgery, the Penguins estimated he would miss three to six weeks. He indicated that he won’t play until after that three-week mark passes.
The Harvard product, acquired for a 2021 sixth-round pick from Edmonton last summer, has five goals, 20 assists and a plus-14 rating in 51 games and has averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time. He has missed seven games, with the Penguns winning three.