Malkin To Miss 2-3 Weeks With Shoulder Strain

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma announced after practice today that center Evgeni Malkin would be out of the lineup for the next 2 weeks or so as a consequence of an ongoing shoulder strain he has been dealing with.

Malkin played last night against the Montreal Candiens with no obvious problem -- and even had 6 shots on goal -- but apparently, Geno has been bothered by this issue for the last 10 days or so. Bylsma wants him to stay off the ice until he's 100%, rather than have to continue fighting through the injury and, potentially, make it worse.

It will be interesting to see how HCDB configures the lines in Malkin's absence, especially since the Penguins have a 4-game road trip coming up that's going to take them to the West Coast, before wrapping up in Boston on 11-12.

In all likelihood, I bet Byslma shifts Jordan Staal up to the 2nd line, and then maybe let Craig Adams continue to center the 3rd line. I would suspect a call-up will be brought in from Wilkes-Barre to fill in on the 4th unit.

Staal may also get more power play time with #71 out of the lineup. As long as Bylsma continues to keep two defensemen on the point, Crosby will have sole residency on the half wall on the man-advantage, and that opens up a spot for a guy down low. Guerin is typically the guy in front, so #11 may have to work more of the boards, but that's certainly something he can do.

One other thing not helping the Penguins right now is the fact that Tyler Kennedy is out of the lineup, too. TK may not even be well enough to play tomorrow or Saturday night, but his absence isn't expected to be a long-term thing, and when he does get back, I think Bylsma will look to put him back with Staal on the 2nd line to see if he can continue to keep a scoring threat there.

Obviously, I think it's fair to expect Chris Bourque to remain in the lineup. He may be asked to play on the new 3rd unit. That's a role that's really designed for him.

There's no doubt that missing Malkin will hurt the Penguins, but there is enough personnel in place to hold the fort in his absence. Maybe not on quite the same pace Pittsburgh has been keeping, but Bylsma will undoubtedly be sure that his team isn't feeling sorry for itself and instead is keeping their foot on the pedal.

I'll post more if there's any AHL recall of note.