Malkin Week-to-Week with Lower-Body Injury

Head coach Mike Sullivan said that Evgeni Malkin will be week-to-week after suffering a lower-body injury on Tuesday against Boston.

"We were waiting for the doctors to make their to make their diagnosis, and we got that information this morning," Sullivan said following practice on Friday. "When you lose Geno, it's a tough loss from our standpoint for everything that he brings to our team. But we're certainly encouraged that hopefully we'll get him back in a timely fashion."
When asked if he expects Malkin to return before the end of the regular season, Sullivan reiterated that last line.
"But certainly, there's a strong possibility," he said.

Malkin was hurt when he collided with Bruins defenseman Jarred Tinordi in the corner of the offensive zone. Malkin was slow to get up, but finished his shift.
After talking with head athletic trainer Chris Stewart on the bench, Malkin headed to the locker room. He came back for one shift on the power play, then went back to the dressing room and did not return the rest of the night.
Sullivan said he hasn't had the chance to speak with Malkin personally yet, as the two are playing phone tag. But he did send Malkin a text reiterating how disappointed he was for him in this circumstance, as the 34-year-old center had been producing absolutely dominant hockey, forming a dynamic duo with 24-year-old winger Kasperi Kapanen.
"He's played so well for us as of late," Sullivan said. "He's developed a lot of chemistry with Kappy, and those guys have been really good for us. We're hopeful that we'll get him back here in a timely fashion and he can continue to build on the progress that they've made."
In the meantime, Jared McCann is ready to step into the No. 2 center position behind Sidney Crosby with Malkin and Teddy Blueger (upper-body, longer-term). He practiced in that spot this afternoon with Kapanen and Brandon Tanev on his wings.
While McCann is technically a game-time decision for Saturday against New Jersey, he looks poised to return to the lineup after missing the last five games with an upper-body injury.
"I'm not going to overthink it too much, to be honest with you," McCann said. "I'm just going to go out there and play my game. I've obviously been playing the wing a lot this year, but I'm a natural center. Moving forward, I've got two great linemates to play with, Kappy and Tans. We had some good chemistry together already this year. We're going to look to make a difference tomorrow."

So far, it's been a season filled with ups and downs for the 24-year-old forward, who had two goals in the first 11 games before missing the next seven with a lower-body injury. He scored three goals in six games after coming back, only to suffer an upper-body injury that sidelined him again.
"Mentally it was very, very tough," McCann said. "I had just gotten back from an injury and to get hurt again, it was just tough. It was not something I could control. But I'm feeling good now and I'm looking forward to the future."
And not only will McCann be stepping in; he'll be stepping up and taking on more responsibility in terms of helping out his teammates down low and handling tougher matchups. But he feels prepared for the challenge, as McCann did it last year when Crosby missed 28 games after undergoing surgery to repair a core muscle injury, and produced strong hockey across all 200 feet of the ice.
"That's a little bit more of a burden of responsibility defensively, but I still think Jared will have the ability to utilize his scoring ability, his shot and his speed through the neutral zone playing the center ice position as well," Sullivan said.
OTHER INJURY UPDATES:
Sullivan said that winger Jason Zucker, who has missed the last 13 games with a lower-body injury, skated on his own for the second day in a row back in Pittsburgh.
"That is really encouraging from our standpoint," Sullivan said. "He's making progress."
Defenseman Mark Friedman, who has missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury, practiced in a full capacity with full contact.
"He's also making progress," Sullivan said.
WORKFLOW:
With McCann taking rushes, Frederick Gaudreau - who made his Penguins debut as the fourth-line center in Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Devils - was the odd man out.
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Tanev-McCann-Kapanen
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Sceviour-Rodrigues-Angello
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