The Penguins were without one of their regular centers and lost another in Tuesday's 2-1 loss to the Bruins at PPG Paints Arena.
Teddy Blueger, after finishing Monday's game against the Bruins, was out of the lineup in Tuesday's game. Mike Sullivan said after Tuesday's game that Blueger is now out "longer-term" with an upper-body injury
It's not clear what may have happened to him in Monday's game, but this stick to the head and neck from Brad Marchand that went uncalled is a possibility:
Things like this greaseball stick to the head by Marchand is what should be a fine. Things like the Chara crosscheck to Gallagher should be a suspension. The scale is way off. pic.twitter.com/endbTHS23y
β ToughCallPodcast π¨π¦ (@ToughCallBlog) March 15, 2021
Mark Jankowski took Blueger's spot as third-line center to start the game, and Sam Lafferty got back into the lineup as the fourth-line center.
Evgeni Malkin left Tuesday's game after a clean hit by Bruins defenseman Jarred Tinordi in the first period:
Malkin went to the locker room for several minutes after the hit. He returned later in the first period and played one shift, then went back to the locker room for the remainder of the game.
Sullivan said after the game that Malkin is being evaluated for a lower-body injury.
"We'll have more information for you when have more information ourselves," Sullivan said of the nature of Malkin's injury.
The Penguins have a scheduled day off on Wednesday, so we likely won't receive a further update on Malkin until after Thursday's morning skate in New Jersey ahead of that evening's game against the Devils.
If Malkin is unable to play, there are several candidates between the active roster and taxi squad who could step in and play center.
The first is Jared McCann, who remains on injured reserve but is nearing a return. He was a game-time decision entering Tuesday's game, but did not take warmups.
Another option is Freddy Gaudreau, who was elevated from the taxi squad to the active roster prior to Tuesday's game. The 27-year old center/wing was Wilkes-Barre's first-line center when he was in the AHL this season, recording one goal and three assists in six games.
The third option is 24-year-old Radim Zohorna, Wilkes-Barre's second-line center. The 6-6, 230-pound Czech center/wing has three goals and six assists in 11 games in Wilkes-Barre this season. He was re-assigned from Wilkes-Barre to Pittsburgh's taxi squad before Tuesday's game.
Three defensemen on the roster -- Mike Matheson and Juuso Riikola and the injured Mark Friedman -- have experience playing forward, but that seems like a stretch when there are multiple natural centers waiting in the wings.
