EDMONTON, Alberta -- Riley Sheahan appeared in 122 games during his two-season run with the Penguins. Not long enough to make a lasting impact on the franchise, but plenty of time to make some good friends.
That explains why, not long after the Oilers' game-day skate at Rogers Place today, Sheahan stood in a hallway outside the visitors' dressing room, chatting with a number of ex-teammates, including Kris Letang and Zach Aston-Reese, and various team staffers.
"I have some good buddies over there," he said.
Of course, with all the personnel moves necessitated by the Penguins' many injuries, Sheahan didn't recognize everyone he saw there.
"It's definitely a new-looking group," he said. "But still really talented."
Jim Rutherford packaged Sheahan with Derick Brassard and a few draft choices to get Jared McCann and Nick Bjugstad from Florida Feb. 1.
Sheahan signed with the Oilers, who will face the Penguins tonight at 9:08 at Rogers Place, as a free agent Sept. 5 and has settled into the blue-collar niche he filled previously with Detroit, the Penguins and the Panthers. He is centering the fourth line and killing penalties and has one goal and one assist in 32 games.
"I'd like to contribute a little more, offensively," Sheahan said. "But the (penalty-kill) has been good and I feel good out there."
And Edmonton is having a solid season, despite going 1-4-1 in its past six games.
"It's a good group and we've had some success," Sheahan said. "Right now, we're figuring out some things, but it's been fun."
More from the skate:
• Tristan Jarry will make his fifth consecutive start and seventh in the past eight games tonight. That means Matt Murray likely will be in goal when the Penguins end their western Canada trip Saturday night in Vancouver.
• The Penguins recalled forward Thomas Di Pauli and defenseman Kevin Czuczman their farm team in Wilkes-Barre. It is not known if they will arrive in time for the game tonight, nor if either would be in the lineup.
• Mike Sullivan on the Oilers, who defeated the Penguins, 2-1, in overtime Nov. 2 in overtime at PPG Paints Arena: "It was a while ago, so we're different team, they're a different team. But certainly, they've got a lot of skill. Their special teams are really strong. They have the No. 1 power play in the league. Their penalty-kill is aggressive. They're a team that's dangerous, offensively ... They can score goals, so we have to make sure we manage the puck appropriately. We have to be prepared to defend."
• Sullivan said that injured forwards Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist and Bjugstad all are skating, but that no target date has been set for any to rejoin the lineup. "They're going through the process, and they're all tracking the right way," Sullivan said.
• The Penguins did not have a game-day skate, but here are their personnel combinations from practice Thursday:
Jake Guentzel -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Zach Aston-Reese -- Jared McCann -- Dominik Kahun
Alex Galchenyuk -- Joseph Blandisi -- Sam Lafferty
Dominik Simon -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Jack Johnson-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson -- John Marino
Juuso-Riikola -- Chad Ruhwedel
• Here are Edmonton's personnel combinations from its game-day skate:
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
James Neal -- Sam Gagner -- Leon Draisaitl
Joakim Nygard -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chaisson
Jujhar Kahaira -- Riley Sheahan -- Josh Archibald
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Patrick Russell -- Caleb Jones
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