Malkin lauds Penguins: 'Good job, everyone'

BOSTON -- Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bonino will, in fact, rejoin the Penguins for their Saturday home game against the Jets, as DKPittsburghSports.com reported yesterday. Mike Sullivan confirmed it after today's morning skate at TD Garden.

Malkin, out since Feb. 2 with a lower-body injury, will miss his 10th game tonight against the Bruins. But he sounded -- and looked, via an exhaustive extra-long workout on the ice with Rick Tocchet -- like he's more than ready to return. Even if he conceded that the injury isn't fully healed.

"Every day it's better," Malkin said in speaking publicly for the first time since before the injury. "It's hard, but little by little, it's progressing. I probably come back too soon. I shoot puck. Everything. I need a little more conditioning. But I feel pretty good."

I asked Malkin how he felt about the Penguins going 5-3-1 in his absence:





He's spot-on about the power play, to say the least. It's gone 1 for 23 without him, as Sullivan and the staff have scrambled to replace what's essentially an irreplaceable roving role with some combination of an extra net-front presence in Chris Kunitz or more of a cycle guy in Conor Sheary. None of it's worked.

Bonino has been out since Jan. 12 with a right hand injury.

OLEKSY ON WAY

With Ben Lovejoy out for the long term, the Penguins made two moves to adjust: Ian Cole was put back into a top-six role and paired with Derrick Pouliot in the skate, and Steve Oleksy was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. Oleksy is expected to arrive in Boston in time for the game, but not to play.

Oleksy, 30, spent parts of the previous three seasons with the Capitals, producing 19 points, a plus-15 rating and 86 penalty minutes in 62 NHL games. The Penguins signed him as a free agent last summer and, in 44 games in Wilkes-Barre, he had a goal, 10 assists, a plus-13 rating and a team-high 78 penalty minutes. Almost a third of those penalty minutes were from his five fights.

Sullivan coached Oleksy in the AHL earlier this season, and he praised the defenseman's intangibles.

"What he brings is great character," Sullivan said. "He's a very competitive person. He's done a tremendous job in Wilkes-Barre as far as helping that team win with his compete level. He's a hard guy to play against. He's abrasive. He's tough as nails. And he plays within himself. He understands the player he is. He simplifies his game."

Cole hasn't been told he'll hold a spot in the lineup, but he sounded eminently prepared to prove he deserves it after a difficult first half.

"I'm looking forward to doing my best every time I'm on the ice," he said.

JULIEN PRAISES SULLIVAN

Claude Julien, the Bruins' coach who outwitted Dan Bylsma every way imaginable in the Eastern Conference final three years ago, was effusive about the Penguins' improvement under Sullivan.

"They probably need a time to put in his stuff, the plays, everything he expected from those guys," Julien said. "But he's done a good job. He's got that team going right now. It's mostly the same players, but they seem to have a little more energy, they're playing hard, and they're winning hockey games."

Boston has won both meetings with the Penguins, those in back-to-back games Dec. 16-18 by scores of 3-0 and 6-2, but Julien dismissed those, as they took place shortly before Mike Johnston's firing.

"I'm not going to stand here and give you my game plan, but we know we're playing against a better Pittsburgh team."

SECONDARY ASSISTS

• The Penguins' forward lines and defense pairings were untouched, other than Cole's insertion.

• Marc-Andre Fleury and Tuukka Rask, another reminder of that Eastern final, will square off.

• Peculiarly, Sidney Crosby is sitting in the same stall in the visitors' locker room that he did in that series. I asked if his superstitious tendencies have gone too far. "I've got nothing to do with it," he clarified with a smile, before citing equipment manager Dana Heinze. "They've got a chart for every building. I go where they put me."

• Don't believe the TV schedule. Faceoff tonight is actually at 7:40 p.m., not 10 minutes earlier.