Fata returns to practice for Penguins

He still won't play in tonight's game against Minnesota.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Rico Fata returned to practice for the first time since being carried off the ice during a Nov. 12 game against the New York Rangers, but it will be a while longer before he sees action in the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup.
"We want him to be as close to 100 percent as he can be," Penguins head coach Eddie Olczyk said. "We'll see how he's feeling, but he won't play [tonight]. I'm going to keep him out."
It will be the third straight game Fata has missed with a left hamstring pull. He put on skates Monday for the first time since the injury, then skated for nearly two hours by himself Tuesday before joining his teammates in a few drills.
Still feels tightness
Fata admitted to some discomfort in his leg after practice, saying he felt tightness in the hamstring at times throughout the workout.
"I've got to make sure I know what I can take and what I can't take," Fata said. "I've got to make sure that I'm not rushing myself because I have a tendency to do that."
Pittsburgh (4-9-3) will play host to Minnesota (7-8-3) tonight in the Wild's only visit to Mellon Arena this season.
With the lowest scoring offense in the National Hockey League, the Penguins could certainly use Fata -- who leads the team with seven goals and 11 points -- in a game against the stingy Wild, who are eighth in the league with a 2.25 goals-against average. Pittsburgh has scored a league-low 31 goals in 16 games.
"We've had a tough time scoring goals," Olczyk said. "We're going to need people going to the net, we're going to continue to shoot the puck at the net and try to create any offense that we can."
Lemieux is also out
The Penguins will do so without Fata and center Mario Lemieux -- two of their top four scorers. Lemieux, who is tied for third with rookie Konstantin Koltsov at nine points, is already out of Friday's game in New Jersey and Saturday's home contest against Ottawa because of a right hip flexor injury he sustained in a Nov. 1 game with Boston.
Lemieux has skated twice since, but has not taken the ice since a six-minute stint at practice Nov. 10. He will be re-evaluated at the end of the week.
Pittsburgh is 1-5 without Lemieux in the lineup this season and 1-1 without Fata, who was expected to be sidelined much longer with his injury.
"[Fata's] close, but he's not ready yet," Olczyk said. "We want to get him a day of practice where he can push, pull and get into some body contact to make a better decision, so hopefully he can be ready by this weekend."
Also on Tuesday, the Penguins recalled defenseman Patrick Boileau from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Boileau, 28, leads the Baby Pens in scoring with eight points in 13 games.