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.
