"Colin McDonald did not know for sure that the Penguins would be sending him back to Wilkes-Barre, and he certainly did not know when it might happen.

But he was all too aware that guys in his position, with one skate planted firmly in the American Hockey League, can have their status change at any time.

Occasionally, that means they land a spot in the parent club's lineup. Sometimes, it means a visit to the NHL is over.

"Someone in my role, I really need to take it not even one day at a time, but one hour at a time," McDonald said a few days ago."