Matt Greene update

Matt Greene had been off the ice for 10 days but was back in practice Sunday, and his return to game action appears to be on the horizon. Greene is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and, last week, got a foot infection because of a case of “lace bite” and missed a couple days to attend a funeral. Dean Lombardi said he expects Greene to be cleared for contact on Wednesday, so it’s not a stretch to think that Greene could return in the next 7-10 days, although nobody is setting a timetable just yet.

“I have no idea right now,” Greene said after practice today. “I feel pretty good. I was feeling pretty good before I was off the ice, and this is my first day back skating, so we’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I feel good right now, but I might be dying tonight. We’ll see what happens. I think it just depends on taking a hit, too. I haven’t really gotten a heavy bump yet, or any of that. The guys have been pretty nice to me, so that’s what it depends on right now.”

As for the “lace bite,” Greene said, “I guess I got an infection there. I don’t really know how it happened, but my foot kind of swelled up and I couldn’t really get it in a boot and I really couldn’t walk too well. It was kind of a freak thing. But that’s pretty much under control now.”

Murray said he hadn’t yet set a target date for Greene’s return, but the coach mentioned Greene getting in a couple days of game-like practices, meaning that a return is likely to take place during the five-game road trip that begins Thursday.

MURRAY: “As soon as I’m told that he’s ready to get going, I don’t think it’s going to be much longer after that. His conditioning is pretty good. He’s been involved in practice for the past couple weeks. We will just give him that push, to get the game conditioning going, and we’ll put him in.”