Jordan Staal Skates Briefly Prior to Tuesday's Morning Skate at Bell Centre

Penguins forward Jordan Staal skated on his own for about five minutes on Tuesday morning.

Pittsburgh’s Game 3 matchup with the Montreal Canadiens won’t begin at Bell Centre for another four and a half hours, but the Penguins already received good news when forward Jordan Staal skated briefly before practice on Tuesday morning.

Staal missed the second half of Game 1 and all of Game 2 against the Canadiens after suffering a lacerated tendon on his foot following a collision at the Montreal blue line with Canadiens defenseman PK Subban.

Staal, who will not play on Tuesday night, wore a Penguins warmup suit instead of his equipment and skated for about five minutes testing out his injured foot as the Penguins warmed up for the morning skate at Bell Centre.

That Staal was even able to do skate that much is pretty amazing considering he just underwent a procedure to repair a lacerated tendon over the weekend.

Head coach Dan Bylsma said after practice that Staal will continue to be listed as day-to-day, but Staal’s usual linemate, Matt Cooke, was happy to see the Selke Trophy candidate taking a huge step forward on the road to recovery.

“We had no idea the extent or what to expect (with the injury), so just to see him skate on it is exciting for us,” Cooke said.

Staal has appeared in seven postseason games for the Penguins this spring, picking up four points (2G-2A). Prior to the injury he had played in 358 consecutive games including the postseason.