Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin sidelined on 'week-to-week' basis

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin will be sidelined on a “week-to-week” basis according to coach Mike Sullivan.

Malkin was injured during Tuesday’s 2-1 home loss to the Boston Bruins when he was checked by Bruins defenseman Jarred Tinordi. During the collision, their right knees appeared to make contact.

Appearing in 29 games this season, Malkin is the team’s third-leading scorer with 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists).

He was placed on injured reserve on Thursday, retroactive to Tuesday.

Sullivan declined to offer any kind of specificity on a time frame for a recovery but indicated there is a “strong possibility” Malkin could return before the regular season is completed. The Penguins’ final regular season game is scheduled for May 8.

Prior to his injury, Malkin had an eight-game scoring streak.

“I haven’t had a chance to speak with him personally at this point, but that was one of the things that I reiterated to him in the text that I sent to him was how disappointed I was for him in this circumstance because he’s played so well for us as of late,” Sullivan said. “He’s developed a lot of chemistry with (linemate Kasperi Kapanen). Those guys have been really good for us, and we’re hopeful that we’ll get him back here in a timely fashion, and he’ll be able to continue to build on the progress that they made.”

Notes:

• Sullivan indicated forward Jared McCann and defenseman Mark Friedman each participated in a full-contact capacity during practice at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Friday. Sullivan labeled McCann as a “game-time decision” for Saturday’s road game against the New Jersey Devils. Each player is currently on injured reserve due to undisclosed ailments.

• Injured forward Jason Zucker has been skating for two days according to Sullivan. He has been sidelined since suffering an apparent left leg injury Feb. 23. Sullivan labeled his progress as “very encouraging.” Zucker is currently on long-term injured reserve.

In 17 games this season, Zucker has seven points (four goals, three assists).

• The Penguins made a handful of minor transactions geared towards the day-to-day management of their salary cap on Friday.

Forwards Anthony Angello, Colton Sceviour and Radim Zohorna were assigned from the NHL roster to the taxi squad while forward Josh Currie and defenseman Josh Maniscalco were assigned from the taxi squad to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

• With Malkin and Teddy Blueger each sidelined due to injuries, forward Frederick Gaudreau made his Penguins debut during Thursday’s 3-2 road loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Primarily deployed at center on the fourth-line, Gaudreau logged 9:05 of ice time on 14 shifts and had two shots while also going 3 for 6 on faceoffs.

Perhaps the more significant metric to him personally is 719.

That’s how many days he went between games at the NHL level.

His previous NHL contest came as a member of the Nashville Predators on March 30, 2019.

A free agent signing by the Penguins this past offseason, Gaudreau expressed gratitude to be back in an NHL lineup.

“It felt good,” Gaudreau said. “It’s been a while. Almost two years now that I have (last) been in this league. Obviously, you want to end up with a win, it didn’t happen. But just to get out there for my first game in a while, it feels really good.”

Signed to a one-year, two-way contract, Gaudreau, 27, has been shuffled between the NHL roster, the taxi squad and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a handful of times this season due to the unique rules the NHL has adopted for roster management during the pandemic.

“It’s the reality of the season,” Gaudreau said. “It’s obviously different. You’ve just got to take it day by day, really. There’s so many things that can happen. One day, you wake up and they send you to Wilkes-Barre and you go play some games there. Then the next day, you’re back on the taxi squad. You don’t really play much, you just practice. Every day no matter what I think is a great opportunity to try to improve. … It’s obviously different than the previous seasons. But, like I said, every day is an opportunity to improve and get better.”

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