It wasn’t quite as dramatic as that time the Ewing brothers were trapped in an elevator, but Brock McGinn had the misfortune of being stuck in a confined space within Dallas over the past week.
After the team had traveled to Dallas for the second leg of its ongoing six-game road trip Jan. 6, McGinn tested positive for covid-19 the next day.
And he didn’t go anywhere for about six days.
Quarantined for almost a week in a hotel room, McGinn was removed from the NHL’s covid-19 protocols and returned to the active roster Saturday in advance of his team’s road game against the San Jose Sharks.
“It’s definitely not a good feeling when you get that,” said McGinn, who indicated he was asymptomatic while speaking with media Saturday in San Jose. “It was a long six days or whatever in that hotel. But it’s nice to be back with the guys, back out on the ice. Just excited to be out.”
McGinn, who rejoined his teammates Thursday in Los Angeles and participated in an optional morning skate, has been able to maintain some level of conditioning during his respite.
“It was nice, obviously, having the bike in the hotel room and then getting three skates in before (Saturday),” McGinn said. “Just excited to be back with the guys. Just looking forward to being here.”
To be clear, McGinn’s quarantine period was orchestrated within a five-star hotel room. So he wasn’t exactly downtrodden. But he did have to find a way to pass the time.
“A lot of (television) shows,” McGinn said to media Saturday in San Jose. “I don’t know why, but somehow I got into ‘Survivor.’ Made it through a couple of seasons of that.”
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust also tested positive the day after McGinn and also was required to quarantine in the same hotel, albeit separately from McGinn.
“We weren’t allowed outside of our room,” McGinn said. “So we weren’t really able to hang out. But we were definitely checking up on each other, seeing how each other is doing. Just kind of wishing everybody the best.”
McGinn will be rejoining a lineup coming off one of its worst defeats of the season Thursday, a 6-2 road loss to the Los Angeles Kings that saw the Penguins allow a season-worst 45 shots.
As one of the team’s better defensive forwards, McGinn figures to be a salve for the miscues that led to Thursday’s setback.
“Obviously, when you lose like that,” McGinn said. “I think everybody in the dressing room has pride in the game and doesn’t want to lose.”
Penguins forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Danton Heinen, Bryan Rust and goaltender Casey DeSmith remain in the league’s protocols.
To make room for McGinn on the active roster, forward Anthony Angello was assigned to the taxi squad.
Domingue’s debut
Goaltender Louis Domingue was scheduled to make his debut with the Penguins.
A free-agent signing this offseason, Domingue dressed as the backup for a handful of games before Saturday but had yet to play.
A seven-year veteran, Domingue played in only one NHL game last season as a member of the Calgary Flames.
In 10 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) this season, Domingue has a 3-4-2 record along with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.
With DeSmith in protocols and top goaltender Tristan Jarry having appeared in 29 of the team’s first 36 games, Penguins coaches opted to start Domingue.
‘We’re trying to manage workloads with Tristan,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s had a heavy workload to this point. We’ve got to make sure that we manage the workload moving forward, so we keep all of our goaltenders in the best possible position to be successful.”
