As the Pittsburgh Penguins try to march on to their third consecutive Stanley Cup, they will do so without star center Evgeni Malkin — at least in the near term.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan announced Wednesday afternoon that Malkin and winger Carl Hagelin will miss Game 1 of the second-round NHL playoff series against the Washington Capitals with injuries.
“We don’t worry about who’s out of the lineup,” Penguins goaltender Matt Murray told reporters. “We worry about who’s in the lineup. That’s all you can do. So we have a good team regardless.”
These injuries will cause some major forward line shuffling. Riley Sheahan will center the second line in Malkin’s place, flanked by Phil Kessel and Dominik Simon.
On the plus, the return of top-line winger Patric Hornqvist from an upper-body injury for Game 6 of the Flyers series fortified the offense. Hornqvist missed the previous two games.
In the four games Hornqvist played, he scored two goals and added four assists.
MALKIN HAS ALREADY MISSED ONE GAME
Malkin is sidelined by an apparent left knee injury suffered in Game 5 of the first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers. He did not practice with the Penguins Tuesday or Wednesday, but he did manage to skate before the team took the ice.
He will travel with the Penguins to Washington D.C. for the start of the series, so there is a chance he could play in Game 2.
Malkin scored three goals and added two assists in his five first-round games. He averaged 19:03 in playing time.
During the regular season Malkin led the Penguins with 98 points (42 goals, 56 assists) in 78 games while earning a plus-minus rating of plus-16.
He is also one of the team’s most physical players, having earned 87 penalty minutes during the regular season and 16 more in the playoffs.
HAGELIN ALSO MISSING
The speedy Hagelin suffered an upper-body injury in Game 6 of that series. Like Malkin, he has been limited to pre-practice skates.
Unlike Malkin, he won’t make the trip to Washington. So it appears his injury may be a longer-term scenario.
Hagelin produced three points (two goals, one assist) in six playoff games in his supporting cast role for the Penguins. During the regular season he scored 10 goals and earned 21 assists in 81 games.
