Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby skated Wednesday as he points toward a return from a bout with the mumps.
Crosby worked out on his own before the rest of the team took the ice. The NHL’s reigning MVP has missed Pittsburgh’s last three games after being diagnosed with the disease.
General manager Jim Rutherford said Crosby is past the infectious period. It’s uncertain when the center will be cleared to play. The Penguins host Colorado on Thursday night.
Rutherford said Crosby is “doing well,” and he will let Crosby and coach Mike Johnston decide the timetable for a possible return.
The Penguins held goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and defensemen Olli Maatta and Robert Bortuzzo out of practice Wednesday while they undergo testing for mumps as a precaution. All three players tested negative for mumps earlier in December.
“We’re being cautious,” Rutherford said. “All three of those players are in isolation. Any time that anybody even starts to not feel well, even if it’s not mumps-like symptoms, we’ve gotten the person or player out of here as soon as we can.”
Pittsburgh forward Beau Bennett remains out with the mumps.
Flames extend Hartley’s contract
The Calgary Flames signed coach Bob Hartley to a multiyear contract extension on Wednesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the team.
Hartley took the job in May 2012 and since then the Flames have posted a 71-79-13 record. Calgary is 17-14-2 this season and fifth in the Pacific Division and ninth in the Western Conference with 36 points.
The 54-year-old Hartley previously coached the Colorado Avalanche to four division titles, four appearances in the conference finals and a Stanley Cup. His 193 regular-season wins are a Colorado franchise record.
The Atlanta Thrashers hired Hartley in 2006 as their head coach and he led the franchise to its first Southeast Division title. He was let go the following season after the Thrashers started slowly.
Hartley became the coach for the ZSC Lions in Switzerland in 2011 and led the team to the Swiss A League championship before returning to the NHL with Calgary.
Neal fined for embellishment
Nashville Predators forward James Neal was fined $2,000 by the NHL on Thursday for diving during Saturday’s game against the San Jose Sharks.
Neal drew a minor penalty for embellishment at 13:39 of the third period in San Jose. He had received a warning for embellishment a month earlier after a game against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 13.
Neal is the first NHL player to be disciplined for embellishment. According to the league, Rule 64 was revised for the 2014-15 season to “bring attention to and more seriously penalize players (and teams) who repeatedly dive and embellish in an attempt to draw penalties.”
“Citations are issued by the National Hockey League Hockey Operations Department, which tracks all games, logs all penalties for diving or embellishment and flags all plays not called on the ice that in its opinion was deserving of such a penalty,” the league said. “A citation is issued once hockey operations, through its internal deliberations, is convinced that a player warrants sanction.”
Wild recall goalie Curry
The Minnesota Wild recalled goaltender John Curry from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.
Curry, 30, is 4-6-0 with a 3.02 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 12 games with Iowa this season.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound native of Shorewood, Minnesota, signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Wild on July 17.
Sabres reassign Grigorenko
The Buffalo Sabres reassigned center Mikhail Grigorenko to the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League on Wednesday after he made his made his season debut with the NHL club.
In Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Grigorenko played 16:42 with one shot on goal.
The 20-year-old Russian was recalled from Rochester on Monday night. He was the 12th overall pick in the 2012 draft and had three goals and five assists in 43 games over parts of two previous seasons prior to the recall.