It's minor but still disappointing, Evgeni Malkin will be out of the lineup for the next 2-3 weeks due to a shoulder strain.
Head coach Dan Bylsma announced that forward Evgeni Malkin will miss 2-3 weeks with a shoulder strain. It is not the same injury that kept Malkin out of the lineup during the beginning of the 2006-07 season and the team is being cautious.
"Geno is going to be out of the lineup for a couple of weeks," Bylsma said. "He strained his shoulder about 10 days or so ago. I don’t know the exact day. It is precautionary for the player. We are worried about the safety of the shoulder. A couple weeks of rest and rehab will get that thing healthy so he can get back onto the ice.
Malkin, for his part, was disappointed, but his quote seems to indicate that it's better to let himself heal up now in October and November before the game's get too important in the spring.
"I can play good, but it’s the early season," Malkin said about the injury. "I feel good. It’s not a big problem, and I’m fine. I’ll be watching and supporting the team on the trip. It’ll be fine."
"It’s okay. It’s not the pain. It feels good. It’s because it doesn’t feel comfortable now."
Malkin's played 254 straight regular season games since he missed the first four games of his career in 2006-07 with an unrelated shoulder injury.