Brooks Orpik, Olli Maatta could both return for Game 6

4:31 PM ET

CRANBERRY Township, Pa. — There is symmetry, to be sure, in seeing Brooks Orpik return from his suspension just as his victim, Olli Maatta, also appears set to play Tuesday night when the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins meet in Game 6 in the East semifinals.

Both defensemen have been out of action since Orpik crunched Maatta, his former teammate, early in Game 2. Maatta, a Penguins defenseman, suffered an upper-body injury as a result. Orpik was suspended for three games.

“Olli had a good practice today. He’s feeling 100 percent,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Monday. “We’ll see how he responds to today’s practice. And he’ll be a game-time decision.’’

But all indications so far point toward Maatta returning to pair up with Trevor Daley.

“Definitely had a good day today. No setbacks. I felt good on the ice,” said Maatta.

Orpik was happy to hear that Maatta is nearing a return.

“He’s a good friend of mine, I don’t think that will change,” Orpik told reporters in Arlington, Va., on Monday before the Capitals flew to Pittsburgh. “I’ve talked to him since. I don’t think it makes you feel any better about what happened, but it’s good to see him back on the ice.”

As far as Maatta is concerned, it’s all water under the bridge now.

“I know him pretty well, he was one of the guys I looked up to my first year,” Maatta said. “Like I said, that’s done and over. Can’t do anything about it now. We got to go out there and play.”

“I don’t think it makes you feel any better about what happened,” said Orpik of his hit on former teammate Maatta in Game 2. “But it’s good to see him back on the ice.” AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

If Maatta does return, the Penguins need him to be the player he’s been for most of his young career, not the tentative one who has struggled at times in these playoffs.

“We just want Olli to play within himself and be himself,” said Sullivan. “He’s been a …

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