WINNIPEG, Manitoba —?Penguins defenseman Derek Engelland took no issue Friday with the three-game suspension the NHL issued for his head shot on Blackhawks center Marcus Kruger last weekend.
"They saw something they thought was suspendable," Engelland said of the ruling Thursday by league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.
"It is what it is. I've just got to be ready to play on the 31st." That's when he can return. Engelland, a tough hockey player but hardly a dirty one, had no history of suspensions, so the length of this one surprised some. But he said that shouldn't have weighed into it.
"It can't," he said. "If someone has no history, but elbows someone in the head or something bad like that, they're not going to say you're good and not give you anything. They've got to treat everyone the same."
Coach Dan Bylsma also had no objection: "It's a hit the league wants to get rid of."
Defenseman Zbynek Michalek, out since Nov. 26 with a concussion, returned to the lineup for just his 15th game of the season. He took Engelland's place. Another defenseman, Brian Strait, was recalled from the Penguins' AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton affiliate as insurance.
The team issued no updates on center Sidney Crosby or defenseman Kris Letang, both out with concussions. Defenseman Paul Martin missed his third game to an unspecified lower-body injury and was held out of the morning skate, too. Forwards Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz and Steve Sullivan were given the skate off for "maintenance," Bylsma said, but all played last night.
As was the case when the Penguins visited Oct. 17, the Winnipeg media throng surrounded right winger Arron Asham, the Manitoba native. He said he'd have "quite a few family and friends" at the game but that he'll spend the holidays in Pittsburgh.
