The hits just keep on coming. After practice coach Dan Bylsma announced that Evgeni Malkin will be out for the next 2-3 weeks with a foot injury.
Per Coach Bylsma: #Pens Evgeni Malkin has a foot injury and will be out 2-3 weeks.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 25, 2014
It's never a good time to lose a superstar center, but this will make the Pens recent struggles even worse. Tonight marks the seventh game of a 23 day stretch where the Pens play 14 games (from March 15th - April 5th).
Malkin had been streaking lately- with some of his best outings (including a 4 point game Saturday vs. Tampa) in recent games and is tied for 7th in the NHL in points. All of this, The Pittsburgh Penguins injury woes continue, star center Evgeni Malkin will be out for much of the regular season with a foot injury.despite missing 11 games earlier this season with a shoulder injury. Malkin ranks 3rd in the entire league in points/game, behind only teammate Sidney Crosby and Tampa's Steven Stamkos.
But, in the big scheme of things, it should be OK. The NHL playoffs being on April 16th, three weeks and a day from today. Assuming Malkin meets the initial timeline, he will be back in time for opening night of the NHL playoffs. Pittsburgh also has the Metropolitan Division lead all but wrapped up, giving them little to ultimately play for in the final games of the season.
Still, the Penguins lead in injury games lost this season has been daunting, and they'll lose their second best player for much of the remainder of the regular season. Malkin will join Pascal Dupuis, Paul Martin, Kris Letang, and Tomas Vokoun as key contributors all currently on the injured list, with only Martin having an expected recent return date after having surgery on March 1st that will have him out an expected 4 weeks.
Pittsburgh hasn't been able to catch a break injury wise this year, and that has continued today. If you take an extreme optimistic view, at least Geno should be fresh and otherwise ready to go for the playoffs.