NEW YORK -- Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin did not travel with the team for its game Wednesday against the New York Rangers (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2) and will miss the Penguins' home game Thursday against the Minnesota Wild (7 p.m. ET, NHLN-US) before being re-evaluated, according to Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. Bylsma said Malkin skated on his own Wednesday in Pittsburgh.
Malkin sustained a lower-body injury Saturday when he fell feet-first into the boards during the Penguins' game at the Detroit Red Wings. He sat out the game Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It's just the latest injury news for a team that also is missing its top four defensemen due to a variety of injuries. With Rob Scuderi (ankle), Paul Martin (undisclosed) and Brooks Orpik (concussion) already out, the Penguins put Kris Letang on injured reserve Monday with an upper-body injury. Pittsburgh filled his spot on the blue line by calling up Philip Samuelsson from the American Hockey League this week.
Bylsma said he's been pleased with the performance of this patched-up defense corps.