Gene Principe

After being hit by a puck, Dustin Penner expects to play Friday, but with a niece piece of gear.

Dustin Penner looked like a guy who lost a fight but then you should see the other guy… he was all black but not blue. That's because it was a puck that hit Penner Tuesday night in Detroit and left him with a black eye and 11 stitches.

"It was pretty scary when I first got hit," Penner said. "I couldn't see but slowly the vision is starting to come back."

It was in the first period against the Red Wings when Nicklas Lidstrom's clearing attempt accidentally popped up and got the Oilers leading goal-scorer underneath and in his right eye.

"The puck kind of pancaked and got me," Penner added. "I was concerned but I went into the room and the doctor put some dye in there and said it was scratched but that's it and that within 48 hours I should be fine."

Which means Penner shouldn't miss a game and will play Friday versus Dallas but he won't be without protection for the eye as the winger will be wearing a visor.

"I wore one in a discovery camp back in 2001," said Penner. "I noticed at practice today that when you hunch over the sweat kind of rolls onto you. I'm only going to wear it until I have to. I don't want to wear it any longer. I don't want to get used to it. Sorry mom."

Mrs. Penner may have something to say about this to her son who knows the serious damage that can happen to a hockey player's eyes. He saw it firsthand in the minors.

"I was playing in Portland and I saw a friend of mine Jordan Smith lose an eye," said Penner. "It's what I thought of immediately when it happened to me."

Penner says his vision is nearly a 100 per cent. We'll wait to see if he changes his mind about visors.

SCRATCH AND PLAY

Maybe it was just an April Fools' joke or maybe not. When Edmonton practised in Dallas on Friday, Ethan Moreau wasn't on a line; instead he was playing defence throughout the hour-long on-ice session. He was paired with Patrick O'Sullivan, leading to those watching the skate to believe that both could be healthy scratches Friday against Dallas.

"I wouldn't read too much into it," Moreau said. "I don't know how you come to that conclusion and I think I've been playing well with my line."

His line being one with Shawn Horcoff and Fernando Pisani. The man who makes the decision was toeing the party line on this one.

"I just wanted Patrick to have a look from the back end," said Pat Quinn. "Because he plays the point on the power play and I just wanted to see if Ethan could skate backwards."

That is the way Moreau's season has been going. The longest serving member of the Oilers has six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 70 games. It's been a very disappointing year for not only the team but for him. The winger was speculated to be on the move at the deadline and nothing happened.

When healthy he has played every game this year and while sitting O'Sullivan, who's already been a healthy scratch this season, may not raise any eyebrows, doing that to your captain would be more than duly noted.

"He is our captain and we intend to show him the respect that comes with that position," explained Quinn. "It may not be fair to do that to him but the rationale behind it might be fair because we also have to evaluate our senior guys."

The reason the Oilers find themselves in this predicament is because Ryan Jones, whom Edmonton picked up on waivers on March 3, is ready to return to the lineup. He suffered a knee injury on March 5 against Minnesota.

Also, Charles Linglet was recalled from Springfield yesterday. The AHL's fifth-leading scorer is going to get a chance to play his first NHL game after seven years in the minors.

That leaves coach Quinn with a dilemma he hasn't had much of the year. Too many healthy bodies and not enough positions to play them in.

"Is it based on the merit of one game? If that's the case we might be better off to play short-handed," said Quinn. "We're trying to develop players and we're trying to be selective. There has been no firm instruction on what we're going to do and no decision has been made."

Stay tuned to find out what the Moreau of this story ends up being.