Recchi, 51, back on ice … sort of

NEWARK, N.J. — Mark Recchi, 51, still moves pretty well when he wants.

The Hockey Hall of Famer was a winger throughout his 22 years in the NHL. He buried 577 goals in stints with seven teams before retiring at 43 in 2011.

But the Penguins have become short-handed again so suddenly that they had to play him at center in practice Tuesday. Recchi looked a little out of place in the middle, but Penguins coach Mike Sullivan thought he acclimated well.

“He was pretty good at center, wasn’t he? Recchs was a pretty cerebral guy. So I think that’s why he played until he was 50,” Sullivan said, with a grin.

No, Recchi is not making a comeback. Well, at least he hasn’t announced one.

Recchi’s presence in drills was out of necessity. The Penguins, who one swears just got back to full health a few days ago, didn’t have enough available players to put a full 18-skater lineup on the ice at Prudential Center, where they were practicing in advance of a road game Thursday against the New York Islanders.

Kris Letang, who left the 6-4 loss Monday night in Boston with a lower-body injury, was still being evaluated as of early Tuesday afternoon. His defensive partner, Brian Dumoulin, was excused to head back to Pittsburgh for a day or two so he could be with his wife and newborn son. Evgeni Malkin took a maintenance day.

Throw in that Patric Hornqvist is already on injured reserve with a lowerbody injury, and that’s why somebody, anybody had to be a place-holder for Malkin.

When a forward is needed, Recchi typically gets the call.

“It’s nice to have a guy on the staff we can plug in there,” Sullivan said.

Other than Recchi skating between Alex Galchenyuk and Bryan Rust, the forward lines at practice looked the same as they did in Boston a night earlier.

On the blue line, the Penguins kept the Marcus Pettersson-Justin Schultz and Jack Johnson-John Marino pairings together and asked Juuso Riikola and Chad Ruhwedel to team up.

Sullivan couldn’t say whether Letang will be available Thursday or, if not, would the coaching staff maintain the existing defensive pairings or, say, bump rookie Marino up to partner with, say, Dumoulin.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “That’s something that we’re discussing right now.”

Ruhwedel ready, as always

Ruhwedel is used to his role as the guy the Penguins break out in case of emergency. He also is quite familiar with the redundant questions he hears from reporters whenever injuries put him in position to get back onto the ice.

So, Chad Ruhwedel, what’s the challenge of playing after a long layoff?

“You just kind of get thrown into the fire and get up to speed as quickly as you can,” he said. “After that first shift, you feel good and just go from there.”

Ruhwedel makes it sound much easier than it is. Take last season for example. At one point, he went three months without playing in an NHL game and then got back in the mix when injuries hit the corps of defensemen. He held his own for a couple of weeks until an injury of his own essentially ended his season.

“It has its moments where it gets tough, or it’s really good when you’re in the lineup,” said Ruhwedel, who signed a one-year deal to resume his role as a depth defenseman. “But it’s part of the job to be ready when you’re called upon.”

Two weeks ago, it looked like Ruhwedel wouldn’t need to be ready anytime soon. Then the Penguins traded Erik Gudbranson and Letang was injured in the game Monday night. Just like that, he went from being fifth among five righthanded defensemen on the NHL roster to a potential spot in the lineup.

Goal ‘pretty crazy’

Penguins players were awed by highlights of Andrei Svechnikov’s amazing goal over the weekend. The young Carolina Hurricanes forward hit the brakes behind the Calgary Flames net, picked up the puck with the blade of his stick and while pivoting toward the net flung it over the shoulder of goalie David Rittich.

Before reaching the NHL, some Penguins attempted the play, which is often called the “Michigan move” because Mike Legg burst on the scene after executing it in a college game in 1996. Sidney Crosby pulled it off while playing juniors in Rimouski, which led to legendary curmudgeon Don Cherry calling him a “hot dog.”

But Svechnikov was the first player to score a “lacrosse-style” goal in the NHL.

“It’s pretty crazy to see that he did that. You see guys try it more and more now. But it’s tough to do,” Jake Guentzel said. “It’s not my first thought to try that behind the net.”

Goalie Tristan Jarry agreed it was an “amazing” goal and “cool to see” somebody do it. Just as long as he wasn’t the one getting scored upon.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever tried it on me,” he said. “You just kind of have to attack the puck.”