The Penguins announced on Tuesday that Evgeni Malkin and Blake Lizotte are week-to-week with upper-body injuries.
Malkin missed Pittsburgh’s last game on Sunday in Dallas after recording two goals and an assist in a 4-3 win over Tampa on Thursday. He ranks second on the team with 39 points, behind Sidney Crosby.
“It’s not easy to replace Geno. Pretty much can’t,” Crosby said. “I think it’s just by committee. He’s been playing great hockey for us, so we’re all going to have to step up and get some points here and play some good hockey until he’s back. Hopefully, slowly, we start to get more and more guys back. But I think if we can build off last game, wasn’t the finish that we wanted, but overall, we played a pretty hard game. So, need more of that.”
Meanwhile, Lizotte had been a linchpin of the fourth line and the penalty kill.
“He’s a highly competitive, high character, extraordinarily reliable player,” Kyle Dubas said in the latest edition of the GM Show.
The Penguins recalled Danton Heinen, who slotted into Lizotte’s spot, and Sam Poulin, who was the extra forward during line rushes.
“It happens. It’s part of the season,” Dan Muse said. “You’ve got to deal with injuries. We’ve been dealing with that. The entire league has. Next guy up. We have a lot of guys there (with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) that have been doing a great job. There becomes opportunity. There’s different options in regards to guys that can play both center and wing.”
Here is the workflow Pittsburgh used…
Novak-Crosby-Rust
Mantha-Hayes-Brazeau
McGroarty-Kindel-Koivunen
Dewar-Heinen-Acciari
(Poulin)
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Shea-Letang
Graves-Clifton
Dumba-St. Ivany
