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Per Coach Bylsma: #Pens Evgeni Malkin has a foot injury and will be out 2-3 weeks.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 25, 2014Hey, why not right? What's another injury?
I have no idea when this injury would have been sustained.
Good news is that it shouldn't impact the playoffs.
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Another Penguins gameday and another desperate Western Conference opponent playing for their playoff hopes.
The Phoenix Coyotes (80) roll into town with a 1 point lead in the last wild card position over the Dallas Stars (79). The Stars have a game in hand on the Coyotes.
Dave Tippett’s Coyotes are always a team that is overlooked, yet find themselves in the thick of the playoff race every single year.
The Coyotes playoff hopes for this season could be taking a hit. Starting goaltender Mike Smith was injured in the Coyotes game against the New York Rangers. Smith is still being evaluated but the feeling is that he is going to miss some time. Smith has played in 62 games for Phoenix so far this season, it is pretty clear they rely on him heavily.
Some noteworthy Penguins developments include the recall of forward Jayson Megna. Megna is with the team today and could potentially make his return to the NHL lineup this evening. This roster move is a very welcomed sight. The Penguins need to find players who can make plays with the puck to play in their bottom 6, Megna could potentially be one of those players. Megna gives the Penguins a higher ceiling than Tanner Glass, Craig Adams, Taylor Pyatt, or Joe Vitale. Megna has better puck skills than all of those players mentioned and he also combines that with size and speed.
Jayson Megna will make mistakes, he will not be perfect. But I’d much rather deal with his potential mistakes knowing that he has the ability to make way more plays than the current options the Penguins have been using. Megna gives the Penguins a better chance to have controlled breakouts as well as controlled zone entries, two huge components of a successful hockey team in the NHL playoffs.
Beau Bennett will remain with the Baby Penguins for one more game. He will suit up in WB/S tomorrow for his 3rd and final conditioning assignment. After this next game he will have to come back up to the Penguins. It remains to be seen if he will return to the Penguins on Thursday against the Kings or Friday against the Blue Jackets. The sooner the better in my opinion.
Evgeni Malkin is missing from the morning skate, Brandon Sutter has slid into his 2nd line spot with his absence.
There has been no official reason given for his absence but comments from Jussi Jokinen make it seem like it could potentially be injury related:
Jokinen on Malkin: "I don't know if he'll play or not but anytime you lose a player like that, it's a big blow." #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) March 25, 2014A Malkin injury is not what the Penguins need. He has been their best forward during their latest stretch of games.
Malkin appeared healthy at the end of the Blues game when he went toe to toe with David Backes at the final buzzer.
If Malkin is out and Sutter replaces him on the 2nd line I would like to see a 3rd line of Gibbons-Goc-Megna. It is probably a line that the Penguins should have been using even before a potential Malkin injury. That would however leave a massive possession blackhole in its wake. Glass-Adams-Pyatt. Holy cow.
With Malkin out the Penguins promoted Olli Maatta to the #1 power play. He will play with Niskanen on the point with Crosby, Kunitz, and Neal. Brooks Orpik was skating with the 2nd power play unit, yes that Brooks Orpik.
Maatta was paired with Matt Niskanen again during the even strength line rushes. I am under the assumption that this is the Penguins version of giving him a night off. Pairing Maatta with Niskanen makes his life a lot easier than logging minutes with Scuderi or Orpik. Simon Despres will play with Scuderi and Bortuzzo will play with Orpik based on the morning skate line rushes.
The Penguins twitter account attempted a Q and A session with James Neal called #AskNeal The session went about as well as you think it would considering he is coming off of another dirty on ice incident. Penguins would probably like a redo on attempting that Q and A. If you are looking for a laugh you can filter through the #AskNeal results on a twitter search. Some real gems in there.
Thanks for reading!
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