Alright, here are the injury updates to notable Penguins.
Bryan Rust is week to week with a lower body injury
And just to clarify, it is a lower-body injury for Rust. https://t.co/zztJ9NvMxd
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 18, 2021
This is not good. He is the best right winger on a team that does not have a lot of depth at the right wing position. It is a huge year for both Rust and the Penguins as Rust is heading into unrestricted free agency after the season. Rust is high on the list of players the Penguins can ill-afford to lose for an extended period of time.
Sidney Crosby did not practice today. I’m not going to lie I thought for sure he would be an active participant at practice and be making his season debut tomorrow night. This is not the case as he has already been ruled out. When you look at things holistically their approach to Crosby makes sense. They play tomorrow on the 19th and then don’t play again until the 23rd. The Penguins have already earned five of the six standings points. They are in a good spot and can afford to be patient and make sure their captain is right before coming back.
Coach Sullivan said Sidney Crosby will not play Tuesday night versus Dallas.
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 18, 2021
Evgeni Malkin has begun the process of hitting the ice. Nothing strenuous at this point, but this is the first step in the process back to playing and it is a good thing to see.
Mike Sullivan said Monday was Evgeni Malkin’s first time on ice. Again, sources tell The Athletic that Malkin has skates a few times before Monday.
— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) October 18, 2021
Checked back with those sources and they said Monday was first time Malkin skated as part of supervised routine, but not skating.
A supervised skate would differ from Evgeni Malkin skating to test the injury on his own. But we’re into semantics and the overall points is Malkin has taken a next step recently.
— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) October 18, 2021
Mike Matheson skated before practice and then joined the team. He might not play tomorrow night, but it sounds like the game on the 23rd is likelier
Mike Matheson said he's feeling good, but isn't sure if he will play in tomorrow's game versus Dallas. Said patience is the most important thing when dealing with a nagging injury like this.
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 18, 2021
Lastly, Zach Aston-Reese is feeling much better than he did during his bout with COVID
Zach-Aston Reese say he had a lot of symptoms, had his heart examined after COVID-19 diagnosis. Couldn’t work out for 12 days.
— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) October 18, 2021
ZAR added that he felt “in really good shape… day before his COVID-19 test failure. “It’s crazy how quickly it went after that.… Described difficulty breathing as feeling of fiberglass.
— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) October 18, 2021
So that’s that. The Stars are in town tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!