Penguins notes: Forward Evgeni Malkin remains sidelined
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin remained sidelined for Saturday’s road game against the rival Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in Washington.
Malkin has missed 23 consecutive games because of a suspected right knee injury he suffered March 16.
Currently designated to long-term injured reserve, Malkin’s potential return has been anticipated since he participated in a full-contact capacity during practice Wednesday in Cranberry.
“There’s going to be an adjustment process for (Malkin),” coach Mike Sullivan said via video conference Saturday. “He’s been out for quite a while now. What we’re going to look for is for (Malkin) to play his game. It’s hard to simulate game intensity, timing, all of those things in a practice environment. The only way you get that is playing in an NHL game with NHL intensity. There will definitely be an adjustment process from (Malkin’s) standpoint. But our expectation is he plays his game, he keeps his game simple and our hope is that with each game that he’s certainly going to get back to his true form that we all love watching.”
In 29 games this season, Malkin has 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists).
In addition to Malkin, forward Brandon Tanev is also designated to long-term injured reserve. Both are on the team’s ongoing four-game road trip.
Rodrigues out, Lafferty in
Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues also missed Saturday’s game. He remains “day-to-day” according to Sullivan after he was struck in the left ankle by a puck during Thursday’s 5-4 overtime road win against the Capitals.
In his place, the Penguins dressed forward Sam Lafferty. A healthy scratch for the previous five games, Lafferty opened Saturday’s contest on the right wing of the fourth line with Frederick Gaudreau at center and Colton Sceviour on the left wing.
‘Ebbs and flows’
The Penguins power play entered Saturday’s game in a bit of a skid.
Over their past nine games dating to April 15, the Penguins have been 3 for 18 (16.6%) with the man advantage.
In contrast, their power play converted 11 of 27 chances (40.7%) in their previous nine games between March 25 and April 11.
Despite a lack of results as of late, Sullivan professed satisfaction with his power play when asked about it Saturday morning.
“It’s just part of the ebbs and flows. We look at more so as just process. These guys, they’re still generating scoring chances. They’re still helping our team build momentum. They’re not going to score every night, but they need to be a threat for us every night. And we think they have. We’ll just continue to work at it. Our power play has been a difference-maker for us for quite some time now. We feel like they’re a threat each and every night. As long as they’re getting the chances from a scoring-chance standpoint, we know there’s a percentage of those that’s going to end up in the net.”
Max on move
The Penguins assigned goaltender Max Lagace from their taxi squad to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL). Before Saturday, Lagace had appeared in eight AHL games this season. He has a 4-3-1 record. along with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
In a corresponding transaction, the team recalled defenseman Josh Maniscalco from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and assigned him to the taxi squad. A first-year professional, Maniscalco has played in seven AHL games this season and has no points.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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