Penguins' Malkin ruled out for two games; Fehr nursing 'significant' injury
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin will not accompany the team on its trip through the Sunshine State this weekend, coach Mike Sullivan told reporters on Thursday.
Malkin will miss Pittsburgh's road games against the Tampa Bay Lightning (28-18-4) on Friday and the Atlantic Division-leading Florida Panthers (30-15-5) the following day. The 2012 Hart Trophy winner was an active participant in Wednesday's practice, but Sullivan told reporters that he became aware of the injury after Malkin was off the ice.
"Geno is not going to be on the weekend with us. He's got a lower-body injury. He's going to rehab it over the weekend. We're going to evaluate him when we get back and go from there."
Malkin scored and set up a goal during the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday and had two assists in Pittsburgh's 6-5 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. The 29-year-old Russian leads the team in goals (23) and points (49) while his assists (26) are just two behind defenseman Kris Letang.
The news is drastically worse for fellow forward Eric Fehr, who suffered a lower-body injury against the Senators. Sullivan told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the injury is "significant" in nature.
Fehr has collected five goals and two assists in 39 games for the Penguins (25-17-7), who have won four in a row.
