The Penguins announced on Monday that Evgeni Malkin and Kaedan Korczak were day-to-day with lower-body injuries, while Elmer Soderblom’s status has been changed to week-to-week.
While Korczak looks like he will be good to go, Head Coach Dan Muse ruled out Malkin for tonight. It's a tough blow, as the franchise stalwart has registered 11 points (6G-5A) through 13 games this season. That total is tied for the fifth-most among Penguins skaters age 40 or over in franchise history.
“It’s always the next man up,” Muse said. “Throughout the course of the season, guys come out, it happens. We’ve seen it basically the entire season. When that happens, it’s a new opportunity for somebody else to take on a little bit more of a responsibility.”
There is some positive injury news: Justin Brazeau is poised to make his season debut with Pittsburgh after suffering a lower-body injury during the preseason. He practiced with the team on Tuesday after a two-game conditioning stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Muse said that Brazeau is fully cleared and available.
“It was good to kind of get the rust off for a couple of games. It’s obviously been a while since I’ve been in a game,” Brazeau said. “(It was about) just kind of getting down there, getting the timing, getting your legs back, and not putting too much pressure on myself to execute on every single play. ... It went well. It was good to get it off, and I’m excited to go (Tuesday).”
Brazeau had gotten off to a hot start last season, his first with the Penguins after signing a two-year deal on the first day of free agency. He finished with a career-high 17 goals in 64 games, but was a healthy scratch for all but one of their postseason games against Philly.
When Brazeau is at his best, Muse said the 6-7 forward brings strong play around the net and down low with his unique combination of size and hands.
“If you go back, the way that he scores goals, he gets a lot of opportunities in-zone, but he also shows the ability where he can create and attack off the rush as well — a number of goals there coming off the rush last year, as well,” Muse said. “He’s a guy, too, just defensively, especially as the year went on, when it’s time to defend, he’s done a good job for us from a structural standpoint and being in the right spots.”
These are the forward lines the Penguins used, with the defense rotating:
Novak-Crosby-Rakell
Kuzmenko-Kindel-Chinakhov
Koivunen-Lapierre-Brazeau
Dewar-Lizotte-Robertson
