Day off with purpose

Tuesday, 22 January 2013 09:36

Written by Shelly Anderson

The Penguins practiced Monday, going about an hour later than usual, after flying home from a game in New York the night before. Today, they rest.

That might seem backward from the outside -- why not take Monday off after back-to-back road games and travel, and practice today, the eve of their home opener Wednesday against Toronto.

But coach Dan Bylsma put a lot of thought into this schedule.

"That is a reflection of the shortened schedule and the limited practice time that we are going to be having this year," Bylsma said. "We certainly wanted to have a day off, and we're taking the day off [today].

"I wanted to get a good, solid day of practice in and then have a full day of rest going into the game vs. having a day of rest [Monday] and then having a light practice the day before a game on Wednesday. This will happen a couple of other times."

Team captain Sidney Crosby is fine with that arrangement.

"I like this," he said. "More mentally it's good to turn the page quickly. We're going to come in Wednesday and be ready to play and not be thinking about the New York win."