CRANBERRY Township, Pa. -- There is symmetry, to be sure, in seeing Brooks Orpik return from his suspension just as his victim, Olli Maatta, also appears set to play Tuesday night when the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins meet in Game 6 in the East semifinals.
Both defensemen have been out of action since Orpik crunched Maatta, his former teammate, early in Game 2. Maatta, a Penguins defenseman, suffered an upper-body injury as a result. Orpik was suspended for three games.
"Olli had a good practice today. He’s feeling 100 percent,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Monday. "We’ll see how he responds to today’s practice. And he’ll be a game-time decision.’’
But all indications so far point toward Maatta returning to pair up with Trevor Daley.
"Definitely had a good day today. No setbacks. I felt good on the ice," said Maatta.
Orpik was happy to hear that Maatta is nearing a return.
"He’s a good friend of mine, I don’t think that will change," Orpik told reporters in Arlington, Va., on Monday before the Capitals flew to Pittsburgh. "I’ve talked to him since. I don’t think it makes you feel any better about what happened, but it’s good to see him back on the ice."
As far as Maatta is concerned, it’s all water under the bridge now.
"I know him pretty well, he was one of the guys I looked up to my first year," Maatta said. "Like I said, that’s done and over. Can’t do anything about it now. We got to go out there and play."
If Maatta does return, the Penguins need him to be the player he's been for most of his young career, not the tentative one who has struggled at times in these playoffs.
"We just want Olli to play within himself and be himself,” said Sullivan. "He’s been a very good player for us all year. He’s been part of our top-four defense corps all year. He’s a very smart player, he’s positionally sound. As long as he takes what the game gives him and embraces the moment, he’s going to be a good player for us.’’
"I think it's just trying to keep it simple at the beginning," said Maatta. "Just get the confidence back, make the easy play when you have it, get back to a rhythm. I think that's the key point to getting back to your game."
The pairings at practice on Monday were:
Dumoulin-Letang
Maatta-Daley
Cole-Lovejoy
Which means Justin Schultz is the odd man out if Maatta does indeed return.
Orpik, meanwhile, is grateful his season didn’t end while he was sitting in the press box. The Capitals extended the season by winning Game 5, so now he gets to play again.
"Guys did a good job battling and extending the series,” said Orpik. "It was [brought up] this morning. I won’t name names, but somebody got suspended hitting [for] Osh [T.J. Oshie] a couple of years ago and it was the guy’s last game of his career. So that’s always a tough way to go out, so it definitely crossed my mind. But it’s in the past now and [I'll] just kind of move forward and hopefully play well tomorrow night.’’
Orpik skated with John Carlson on the second pairing at practice Monday. That left Dmitry Orlov with Taylor Chorney potentially as the third pairing and Nate Schmidt maybe as the odd man out.
Murray still the man for Pens
Sullivan ended any doubt Monday and named Matt Murray his starting goalie for Game 6. There had been some media speculation about whether it was time to return to a healthy Marc-Andre Fleury, but Sullivan is staying with the rookie, who sports a .937 save percentage in the playoffs.
"We deal with the hand that we're dealt, and the reality is Marc is a terrific goalie, we know that,” said Sullivan. "Unfortunately, he suffered an injury late in the season that kept him out for an extended period of time. That's a difficult circumstance. It's nobody's fault. It is what it is. So it's our job to try to manage it the right way. We believe we have three good goalies here who have helped us get to this point. Zatk [Jeff Zatkoff] played some key games for us in Round 1. Matt Murray has taken the load here when Marc has been hurt and he's played really well for us. We feel very fortunate that we have three goaltenders that we can rely on -- and we have relied on -- to help us get to this point. So we're trying to make the best decisions we can to help this team given the circumstance surrounding the group."
The affable Fleury understands the situation.
"It's all right,” Fleury said Monday. "You know, we're winning some games, we're up 3-2 on the Caps, on the team that had the best record in the league. I'm just trying to cheer the guys on and be positive around the room and keep on winning."
He hasn’t played since March 31, so he was asked if rust could be a factor if and when he does return.
"I'm sure any athlete who does anything and has been away for a while, it always takes a few minutes to adjust to the game,” said Fleury. "I've done it in the past. A lot of people have done it in the past."
Murray, meanwhile, just wants to keep “riding it” as he continually says.
"Just keep doing what I'm doing, keep doing what we're doing as a team,” he said Monday. "I thought we've been the better team here most games as of late. Just stick to the same game plan."