Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin did not travel with the team for its game Wednesday against the New York Rangers and will miss the Penguins' home game Thursday against the Minnesota Wild before being re-evaluated, according to Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. Bylsma said Malkin skated on his own Wednesday in Pittsburgh. Malkin sustained a lower-body injury Saturday when he fell feet-first into the boards during the Penguins' game at the Detroit Red Wings. He sat out the game Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's just the latest injury news for a team that also is missing its top four defensemen due to a variety of injuries. With Rob Scuderi (ankle), Paul Martin (undisclosed) and Brooks Orpik (concussion) already out, the Penguins put Kris Letang on injured reserve Monday with an upper-body injury. Pittsburgh filled his spot on the blue line by calling up Philip Samuelsson from the American Hockey League this week.
Bylsma said he's been pleased with the performance
of this patched-up defense corps. "Right now all six
[defensemen] need to play and need to play in a lot of different
spots. Brian
Dumoulin, Philip
Samuelsson, these guys step into the lineup and play meaningful
situations against first-line, second-line guys. They're playing on
the penalty kill, they're playing on the power play. They're stepping
in and playing in meaningful spots on our team. They're doing a
remarkable job. Not just in sheltered minutes. They're playing
big-time minutes for our group."
With the defense struggling with injuries, Matt
Niskanen has found himself as the unit's most veteran player. The
27-year-old established a new career high when he played 29:26 in the
4-1 win Saturday against the Red Wings. Two nights later he led all
Penguins players in ice time in a 3-1 win against the Maple Leafs.
"Top four guys are out so it's obviously a
big challenge," Niskanen said "But what we do have
is a bunch of young, talented kids that are full of energy and
excited to be here and compete. They're doing a really good job so
far. It's an exciting thing to see these guys come in and just want
to thrive. They want to enjoy every moment."
The Pens' defense could have its hands full
against a Rangers team that has played Pittsburgh tough. In the
Penguins' previous visit to Madison Square Garden, they lost 5-1 on
Nov. 6. They're hoping to be more opportunistic this time against a
Rangers defense that was among the League's stingiest in November,
but has given up three or more goals in each of the five games
they've played in their current nine-game homestand.
"They find a way to get in the way of a
lot of shots, they get their sticks in lanes so you can't move
around," Penguins captain Sidney
Crosby said. "I think the main thing is not passing up
shots. If you get them you have to find a way to get them through and
take advantage of them."
After playing seven defensemen Sunday in a 4-3
shootout win against the Calgary
Flames, the Rangers will make one lineup change against
Pittsburgh. Rookie defenseman Dylan
McIlrath will sit and forward Arron
Asham will be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch.
"They're one of the best teams in the
League. We always use them as a measuring stick as to where our game
is. We need to do that again [Wednesday]," Rangers
defenseman Michael
Del Zotto said. "This is a big game for us. Two teams
that don't like each other and we've competed in the past pretty
hard. So we're excited to go."
A number of key players were excused from New
York's morning skate Wednesday, including Henrik
Lundqvist, Rick
Nash, Brad
Richards and Ryan
McDonagh. Lundqvist will start in net for the Rangers against
Marc-Andre
Fleury.
Defenseman Deryk
Engelland has been suspended for five games, without pay, for an
illegal check to the head of Detroit
Red Wings forward Justin
Abdelkader during NHL Game No. 491 in Detroit on Saturday, Dec.
14, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety
announced today. The incident occurred at 19:30 of the first period.
Engelland was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the
head. Based on his average annual salary, Engelland will forfeit
$14,529.90. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
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