Pittsburgh Penguins: Evgeni Malkin out long-term with lower-body injury

The Pittsburgh Penguins got some bad news about Evgeni Malkin, as their superstar center will miss significant time with a lower-body injury.

The Pittsburgh Penguins‘ road to the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs was already going to be tougher than in previous years thanks to an improved Metropolitan Division. Evgeni Malkin was expected to have a bounce-back year for them. However, the team has announced he, along with Nick Bjugstad, will be out long-term, both with lower-body injuries.

Malkin was injured in the second period of their Saturday game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Penguins won that game 7-2 game, but it appears the victory was a very costly one. Malkin is one of the engines that makes the Pens’ offense go.

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Losing him for any amount of time isn’t ideal. However, losing him long-term could be extremely costly. Though head coach Mike Sullivan noted it likely won’t be a season-ending one for the Penguins, Malkin’s a critical player.

He’s the Robin to Sidney Crosby‘s Batman. Except sometimes, Malkin’s capable of being Batman. The one-two punch of Crosby and Malkin is a huge reason why the Penguins have been a fixture in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for over a decade.

In two games this season, Malkin has one goal. His goal was the lone one the Penguins scored in their season-opening loss to the Buffalo Sabres. After the game, the usually quiet Malkin was extremely critical of his team’s effort. The Penguins appear to have gotten the message on Saturday, dominating the Blue Jackets in just about every facet of the game.’

Even in a down year, Malkin still had 72 points last season. However, his defense suffered, as he had a plus-minus of -25. The Penguins were expecting Malkin to bounce back. And from the way he was playing in his first two games, that bounce-back season appeared likely.

Without Malkin, expect the Penguins to turn to Jared McCann. He was initially thought of as a throw-in of the Bjugstad trade. However, McCann quickly proved himself as a viable scoring forward for the Penguins, even earning himself some playing time on the top line with Crosby.

It remains to be seen how Pittsburgh will replace Malkin and Bjugstad. But the Penguins road to the Stanley Cup Playoffs gets rockier and less certain with every game that the former misses.