Penguins

Aston-Reese week-to-week, Kahun healthy

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Dominik Kahun. -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

Alright, do you want the bad news or the good news first?

The bad news: Zach Aston-Reese will be week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Mike Sullivan said after Tuesday's morning skate.

Aston-Reese left Sunday's win over the Red Wings with 11:04 remaining in the middle frame after skating slowly to the Penguins’ bench. It's not clear how he sustained the injury.

The good news: Dominik Kahun will be a game-time decision on Tuesday night against the Maple Leafs at PPG Paints Arena.

Kahun was a full participant in the Penguins' morning skate, skating in a full-contact jersey for the first time since he suffered a concussion on Jan. 19.

"I feel pretty good," Kahun said after the skate. "Thanks. It's a game-time decision tonight."

Kahun says when he does return, he's not sure if the plan would be to ease him back into game-action as far as his ice time goes.

"I have no idea," he said. "I hope I can play, and I feel pretty good."

Kahun said he felt fine taking contact in the morning skate, as well as some light contact from his skates with Ty Hennes, and had no hesitation in doing so.

"It was great," Patric Hornqvist said of seeing Kahun skate. "He's been a big part of our success here. He's played with Geno here almost the whole year, and that line with him and Rusty and Geno has been really good. It's nice to see him coming back here really soon. We need him."

Hornqvist skated on the third line with Brandon Tanev and Teddy Blueger, where he finished Sunday afternoon's game after Aston-Reese left in the second period. Kahun skated on the fourth line:

Jason Zucker -- Sidney Crosby -- Dominik Simon
Jared McCann -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Brandon Tanev -- Teddy Blueger -- Patric Hornqvist
Dominik Kahun -- Andrew Agozzino -- Sam Lafferty

Kahun skated with the Penguins' second power play unit in practice, a good sign that he's nearing a return.

MORE FROM THE SKATE

• Tristan Jarry was the first goaltender off the ice.

• Brian Dumoulin did not skate but was in the building in a tracksuit for off-ice rehab.

• Nick Bjugstad skated on his own before practice.

• The defense pairings were the same as last game:

Jack Johnson -- Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson -- Justin Schultz
Juuso Riikola -- Chad Ruhwedel

• The first power play was as usual: Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist, and Bryan Rust.

• In addition to Kahun, the second power play included Juuso Riikola, Justin Schultz, Jared McCann, and Jason Zucker.

• Hornqvist on playing the Maple Leafs: "It's the same challenge here tonight. Just make sure you're doing that, we're going to get our chances. We play against a hell of a good team tonight. We make sure we do those right things."

• Zucker on playing with Dominik Simon: "He's a hell of a player. He's a shifty guy, he's fast. He gets pucks back. He's really good getting his stick on pucks and getting second chance opportunities out of it, keeping the play alive."

• If the Penguins win tonight, they move past the Capitals for the No. 1 spot in the Metropolitan Division.

"That's our goal," Zucker said of moving into first place. "Coming into the game tonight, just get these two points and jump ahead of them."

The players don't want to be too focused on the standings tonight, though.

"It means a lot," Hornqvist said of the standings. "We want to get better every single day and climb the standings. Tonight is an opportunity we have, but we can't really worry about that. We worry about how we're playing and how our mindset is going to be. If we take care of that, I like our chances."

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