Pittsburgh Penguins centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will miss Sunday’s NHL All-Star, the team announced on Thursday.
Malkin left the team’s game on Tuesday night in Philadelphia with what the team characterized as a lower-body injury. He was able to return to action and finish the game that night.
The team had an optional morning skate on Wednesday, and Malkin did not participate. He attempted to take part in the team’s warmup before Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks, but it was determined that he was unable to play.
“It was a matter of just seeing if he could play, and he couldn’t” Penguins head coach Mike Johnston said after Wednesday’s game. “He was unable to play, he met with the doctors, met with the trainers, tried it in warmup just to see, and it just wasn’t there.”
Malkin may miss even more time, as the team was unable to determine a timeframe for his return. The Penguins next play Tuesday night at Consol Energy Center against the Winnipeg Jets.
“He won’t be ready to play right after the break,” general manager Jim Rutherford said to the Tribune-Review. “It’s probably an injury that will take a little time to heal.”
Malkin was in line to make his fourth all-star appearance on Sunday in Columbus. Wednesday’s was the first game he had missed all season. He is tied for third in the league with 51 points and is fifth with 32 assists.
He was voted onto the team along with fellow Penguins Crosby. Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was added to the squad as an injury replacement. Nashville rookie Filip Forsberg was named as Malkin’s replacement in the All-Star Game.
As for Crosby, he too has been diagnosed with a lower-body injury, and according to the Penguins, he has been playing with the injury and will need about a week to heal. With the injury, Crosby will be unable to play in the Penguins game against Winnipeg on Tuesday.
The injury means that to date, Crosby has still played in just one All-Star Game. As of press, no replacement for Crosby has been named.
The All-Star festivities will begin on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. with the fantasy draft to determine teams. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno and Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews will be the captains.
Once the teams have been selected the squads, featuring 42 NHL all-stars and six rookies, will participate in the skills competition Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. Finally, the all-star game itself will be on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. All of the events will be televised on the NBC Sports Network.
Photo credit: ESPN
