CALGARY, Alberta -- Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are expected to be in the Penguins' lineup when they face the Flames tonight at 9:08 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Mike Sullivan said today that both will be "game-time decisions," but added that, "based on what we know right now, I think it's encouraging in both cases."
Malkin, who sat out the past two games because of illness, and Rust, who did not practice Monday because of what he called "flu-like symptoms," both went on the ice this morning, along with defenseman Jusso Riikola and goalies Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry, for a relatively brief, low-key workout. Neither seemed to experience any difficulty.
"They both wanted to skate," Sullivan said. "That wanted to see how they feel."
That’s Bryan Rust, on the ice in Calgary now. #dkps #penguins pic.twitter.com/pbuDdoPXnp
— Dave Molinari (@MolinariPGH) December 17, 2019
Evgeni Malkin is on the ice in Calgary now, too. #dkps #penguins pic.twitter.com/NWrxwp50cM
— Dave Molinari (@MolinariPGH) December 17, 2019
After leaving the ice, Rust said that "I'm feeling better than I did yesterday" and that "so far, so good, but we'll see how I feel going through this afternoon and into tonight."
Precisely how Malkin felt isn't known, because he does not speak with reporters at game-day skates.
Rust is the latest player to come down with an illness that has been going around the Penguins' locker room in recent weeks.
"I felt it a little bit a couple of days ago, then with that long travel day (Sunday), it kind of got a little bit worse," he said. "Overnight, it got even worse and yesterday was kind of the peak. Now, it seems to be on the downside a little bit."
• Jarry will get the start for the Penguins, marking his 10th appearance in a 12-game span, while backup Cam Talbot will be in goal for Calgary, making just his third start in 13 games. "We certainly don't want him sitting for three weeks," Flames coach Geoff Ward said. "We feel like he's playing well right now. We like both of our goaltenders. We feel like both of them are more than adequate." The Penguins presumably aren't upset about facing Talbot, who has a career record of 0-2-3 and a goals-against average of 3.34 when he faces them.
• Malkin's next goal will be his 400th in the NHL. "He's every bit as good a goal-scorer as he is a playmaker," Sullivan said. "We've actually encouraged him a lot to shoot the puck more, because we think he's such a dangerous player, as a scoring threat."
• Sam Bennett is scheduled to rejoin the Calgary lineup after missing about a month because of an unspecified upper-body injury. "We just told him to play to his strengths," Ward said. "Simple is better right now. Just come in, play simple, play hard, play in straight lines. Be physical, chip in offensively when you can and be responsible away from the puck."
• Sullivan, on the Flames: "They're a real good team. They're deep. They have balance. They have goaltending. ... They're hard to play against. They have good size. They lean on you. They play within structure. It's one of those games where you're going to have to fight for every inch of ice out there."
• Here are Calgary's personnel combinations from its game-day skate:
Matthew Tkachuk -- Elias Lindholm -- Andrew Mangiapane
Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Mikael Backlund
Milan Lucic -- Derek Ryan -- Dillon Dube
Sam Bennett -- Tobias Rieder -- Michael Frolik
Mark Giordano -- T.J. Brodie
Noah Hanifan -- Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington -- Rasmus Anderson