RALEIGH, N.C. -- Even though he wasn't able to dodge Sidney Crosby's shot-pass on Thursday in Sunrise, Fla., Evgeni Malkin was able to dodge a major injury.
Two days after Thursday's game in which he left during the third period and did not return, Malkin was out on the ice for Penguins practice here at Invisalign Arena in a full capacity on Saturday afternoon.
All three of Crosby, Kris Letang and Mike Sullivan believed on Thursday that Malkin's injury wasn't something to be overly concerned about, and Malkin showed exactly why on Saturday as his patented gallop didn't appear to be hampered by his right knee whatsoever during practice.
Just take a look for yourself:
Proof that Evgeni Malkin’s right knee is, in fact, fine. pic.twitter.com/tjYn586KSZ
— Danny Shirey (@DannyShireyPGH) December 17, 2022
"He recovered well," Sullivan said after practice. "He's a tough kid. We're fortunate we dodged a bullet there. He was feeling he good, he skated well at practice, so we're certainly encouraged by that."
Before even so much as sharing how his knee felt during practice, Malkin re-assured reporters that he'll play on Sunday night when the Penguins play the Hurricanes, 5:08 p.m., at PNC Arena.
"Oh, yeah, for sure. I’m playing tomorrow night," Malkin said following practice, rocking a dapper jean jacket. "I feel not one hundred percent, but almost. Little bit hurt still, little bit bruised, but so much better from yesterday. It’s good we have a couple days before the game. I hope tomorrow feels better, a little bit."
His first thought after being hit by the puck that took him out of the game?
"It's pain," Malkin said with a laugh.
Malkin's knee that got hit was the same knee that had to be surgically repaired during the 2021 offseason. It was a scary moment for Malkin after being hit on Thursday, but an X-ray following the game revealed that nothing was broken or damaged. His knee felt a little numb, but after 15 minutes or so, he started to feel "so much better." He was able to start walking around after half an hour with his knee wrapped in ice.
Malkin joked that instead of apologizing, Crosby said he'd shoot harder next time.
"I'm lucky it's Sid's shot and not like Tanger or (Jake Guentzel)," Malkin said. "We know Sid does not shoot so hard. But no, he said sorry. It's a goal, I'm so happy. Because if I don't score, it feels so much worse.
"I'm trying to play around the net. It's a little bit bad luck, but again, I see Sid's eyes when he's looking at me, I know he's shooting to my pants. Sometimes we practice that."
Bryan Rust mentioned that he's been hit with the puck in similar fashion before, but in those instances he was trying to get in the way of it.
"It was obviously nice to see him out there today, flying around and doing his normal thing," Rust said of Malkin.
Slightly sore, Malkin will look to continue building upon a very strong start to his season in which he has 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 30 games to go along with a remarkable 60% share of expected goals at 5-on-5, the second-highest mark on the team.
Danny Shirey / DKPS
Penguins players stretch at center-ice following practice on Saturday at Invisalign Arena in Raleigh, N.C.
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• All players were in attendance for practice, including recently recalled forward Drew O'Connor and defenseman Mark Friedman. They skated on a fourth defense pairing during line rushes.
• There weren't any changes to the Penguins' workflow:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Ryan Poehling - Teddy Blueger - Josh Archibald
Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin - Jan Rutta
P.O Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel
Drew O'Connor - Mark Friedman
• The Penguins briefly practiced special teams toward the end of practice. Here's the personnel ...
PP1: Crosby, Guentzel, Rakell, Malkin, Letang
PP2: Carter, Rust, Heinen, Kapanen, Joseph
PK1: Blueger, McGinn, Dumoulin, Rutta
PK2: Poehling, Archibald, Pettersson, Ruhwedel
• Archibald did not play at all on the penalty-kill Thursday night as Rust has taken on an increased role while down a man, but he worked with the PK during special teams work since Rust was working with the power play. Archibald figures to be the first one to step up if Rust is sitting in the penalty box.
• Rust was asked about his increase in PK usage and said that whatever the coaching staff asks him to do, he'll go out there and do it to the best of his abilities.
"Obviously, I've been a killer in the past and I did it for a long time," Rust said. "For reasons probably ice-time related, I didn't kill as much in the past few years, but it's fun to be out there."
• "It's been alright," Carter responded after I asked how he feels about his performance to this point of the season. "We're just trying to keep it simple and get the puck down to the other end so the other guys can do the work."
• Kapanen had four goals and an assist over a two-game stretch at the start of December, but has now gone five games without a goal, registering just five shots on goal during that time. Sullivan wants to see Kapanen get back to doing the things that brought him success at the beginning of the month.
"When he first came back, I thought he was playing the game real hard," Sullivan said of Kapanen. "He was using his speed, he was getting inside the dots, he was taking pucks to the net. I think the last couple, he hasn’t been as noticeable with his speed and things of that nature. We’d like to see him get back to playing that North-South game and leveraging his speed in every aspect of the game on both sides of the puck. When he does that, he’s a real quality player for us. We’ll encourage him there in that regard just to playing the game with a certain level of tenacity and intensity that helps him be at his best."
• After Sullivan spoke, Kapanen admitted that his game hasn't quite been where it needs to be over the past handful of games.
"Just gotta start bringing it again," Kapanen said.
• Due to a 5:08 p.m. puck drop for the game on Sunday against the Hurricanes, there will not be a morning skate. Sullivan will not have a pre-game media availability. I will have your coverage for the game.
