Penguins’ Mike Sullivan Offers Unclear Update On Injured Star

After missing Tuesday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning with an upper-body injury, Evgeni Malkin returned to Pittsburgh Penguins practice on Wednesday in a white non-contact jersey.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told reporters after practice that Malkin’s status for Thursday night’s game in Buffalo was unknown, and the star forward is considered “day-to-day.”

Despite not being in the lineup against the Lightning, Malkin had a good jump coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break, scoring six goals and notching six assists in 15 games.

“Geno, for a generational talent and a first-ballot Hall of Famer, when he doesn’t produce for whatever reason through stretches of time, nobody feels it more than him,” Sullivan said, per team-provided video. “He puts a lot of pressure on himself to produce offensively for our team. And when he struggles in that regard, it affects his confidence.

“As talented as he is, one would think that those guys never suffer challenges with confidence, but they’re human. And when it doesn’t go the right way, I think Geno is one of those guys. When it goes the right way, it’s the opposite, and that’s when he’s feeling good and he’s confident and he’s satisfied with his overall game.”

Sullivan continued: “I think he tends to be a momentum player and he can ride that momentum. I think since he’s come out of the break, he’s had a ton of energy, and I think that helped him, and maybe that rest, and the silver lining of that is that he got an opportunity to get some rest so that he can withstand the rigors of the schedule.”

The Penguins bench boss noted that when Malkin is at his best, he can make plays that most other players can’t. With nine games remaining in the regular season, the team could certainly use his offense down the stretch.

Pittsburgh is 0-1-1 on its three-game road trip that wraps up against the Sabres. Puck drop from KeyBank Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. You can watch all the action on SportsNet Pittsburgh, following an hour of pregame coverage.

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