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Penguins' Evgeni Malkin takes maintenance day, Bryan Rust continues off-ice rehab | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Penguins' Evgeni Malkin takes maintenance day, Bryan Rust continues off-ice rehab

Justin Guerriero
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AP
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin (71) reaches for the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook (48) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Pittsburgh.

A notable absence for the Pittsburgh Penguins during their Friday afternoon practice was revealed to be of a routine nature, as coach Mike Sullivan relayed that forward Evgeni Malkin missed the session because of a maintenance day.

Through 12 games, Malkin leads the Penguins in points (14) and assists (11) and has scored three goals.

Malkin’s absence brought about some changes to the Penguins’ forward combinations and power-play groupings, which were as follows:

72 Anthony Beauvillier - 87 Sidney Crosby - 67 Rickard Rakell

10 Drew O’Connor - 20 Lars Eller - 48 Valtteri Puustinen

8 Michael Bunting - 19 Cody Glass - 55 Noel Acciari

13 Kevin Hayes - 46 Blake Lizotte - 18 Jesse Puljujarvi

24 Matt Grzelcyk - 58 Kris Letang

28 Marcus Pettersson - 65 Erik Karlsson

27 Ryan Graves - 3 Jack St. Ivany

First power-play: Bunting, Crosby, Rakell, Karlsson, Grzelcyk

Second-power-play: Eller, Hayes, Glass, Puustinen, Letang

Matt Nieto, who remains on long-term injured reserve following offseason knee surgery, but has returned to practicing with the Penguins, skated on a reserve fourth defensive pairing alongside Ryan Shea.

Note: Forward Bryan Rust, on injured reserve due to an undisclosed ailment, continues his off-ice rehab, per Sullivan. Rust last suited up Oct. 26 in Vancouver, leaving mid-game vs. the Canucks with an injury.

Justin Guerriero is a TribLive reporter covering the Penguins, Pirates and college sports. A Pittsburgh native, he is a Central Catholic and University of Colorado graduate. He joined the Trib in 2022 after covering the Colorado Buffaloes for Rivals and freelancing for the Denver Post. He can be reached at jguerriero@triblive.com.

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Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports
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