Pittsburgh Penguins forward Kevin Hayes is closing in on a potential return to the lineup as he recovers from an undisclosed injury that has sidelined him for the past seven games.
On Thursday in Cranberry, Hayes skated in practice in a full capacity. He engaged in full contact but did not participate in line rushes.
Currently designated to injured reserve, Hayes has not played since a 4-3 road shootout loss to the New York Islanders on Nov. 5. In 14 games his season, he has four points (three goals, one assist) while averaging 9:27 of ice time per contest.
Defenseman Kris Letang also participated in the practice session with no restrictions. An undisclosed illness has kept him out of the lineup for the past three games.
During Thursday’s practice, Letang skated on the top pairing and with the second power-play unit.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did not offer a forecast as far as either player’s availability for Friday’s home game against the Winnipeg Jets but indicated both are still being evaluated.
Forwards Cody Glass and Blake Lizotte, each designated to injured reserve due to concussions, skated before practice according to Sullivan who labeled each player as having taken a “step forward.”
The Penguins’ lines and pairings during practice were:
72 Anthony Beauvillier – 87 Sidney Crosby – 67 Rickard Rakell
8 Michael Bunting – 71 Evgeni Malkin – 17 Bryan Rust
18 Jesse Puljujarvi – 10 Drew O’Connor – 22 Sam Poulin
83 Matt Nieto – 55 Noel Acciari – 11 Vasily Ponomarev
24 Matt Grzelcyk – 58 Kris Letang
28 Marcus Pettersson – 65 Erik Karlsson
38 Owen Pickering – 5 Ryan Shea
27 Ryan Graves – 3 Jack St. Ivany
The top power-play unit included Crosby, Karlsson, Malkin, Rakell and Rust. The second unit involved Beauvillier, Bunting, Grzelcyk, Letang and Puljujarvi.
