McCarty recovering slowly

Don't expect Darren McCarty back this week. He is still recovering from an injury he suffered in the November 8 game against Nashville when he went feet first into the end boards. He has "a couple bulging disks" in his back and though he wants to play this week, he's decided not to rush it. While skating and shooting weren't much of a problem, Mac's primary concern is contact and instead of coming back quickly and risk injuring it again, he's going to heal fully. He skated for the first time since the injury yesterday before practice for about 20 minutes and Lewis said he would try to skate with the team today. He says he's still got a ways to go, however, and I guess that's good news for Darryl Bootland, if not for the team in general.