Penguins Practice: Malkin Sits, Injured Players Close; Muse Superstitious?
FARMERS BRANCH, Tex. — Evgeni Malkin was absent from Saturday’s Penguins practice, though a couple of the injured players were fully engaged on the lines, and former Penguins defenseman and assistant coach Sergei Gonchar dropped by.
Malkin took a maintenance day, per the team’s pre-practice update. He was sighted at the rink and inside the locker room during the session.
With the projected absence of the second-line center, lines looked a bit shuffled, suggesting coach Dan Muse might be preparing for a potential Sunday appearance in Dallas without Malkin. Rather than plugging a straightforward stopgap on the second line, Muse assigned Kevin Hayes to center Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau, while Tommy Novak moved up to play alongside Sidney Crosby.
In another sign of the Penguins’ ongoing roster evaluation, Muse reintroduced practice tracking on breakouts and integrated full-line drills.
The top power play unit also needed a replacement for the day. Anthony Mantha moved to the top PP unit, and Brazeau returned to PP2.
Otherwise, practice remained fairly routine.
Penguins winger Noel Acciari said he felt good after the session, and the pace of the practice reflected that assessment.
"When they call my number, I’ll be ready to go," Acciari stated.
It remains unclear whether Acciari and Brazeau will be cleared for Sunday. Muse indicated further talks with the training staff are needed, though he noted both players were full go and in contact during Saturday’s 45-minute practice.
"I still need to have some conversations with our staff to get more updates. A good practice like that gives you a sense of readiness, including some bumping in there, but there are still steps before I can share more," Muse said.
From appearances, the players looked ready to go.
Practice Drills
Among the drills, Muse had the team working on breakaway-style sequences where defensemen tracked back as forwards attacked to score.
The Penguins had faced a Tampa Bay Lightning attack that pinned them with speed in Thursday’s 4-3 loss.
Defenseman Connor Clifton weighed in on that game, noting that the Penguins had solid goaltending but offering a deeper look at Tampa Bay’s tactics.
"Tampa’s speed and their game plan gave us trouble. They pull one guy into the neutral zone, drag us back, then feed a fast breakout to their rushers. With Kucherov and Cirelli pushing, they’re really tough to handle. They exploited gaps, and we weren’t able to shut things down," Clifton explained.
Is there superstition in play?
Historically, many NHL coaches—including the Penguins’ former bench boss—stood by a winning lineup and rarely shook things up after a win. Muse, however, has embraced a different approach. He keeps a goaltending platoon in play regardless of results and rotates players in and out of the lineup as needed.
"Every game is different. You evaluate game by game. Am I totally not superstitious? I don’t know. There may be a couple of small habits, but you have to assess each game on its own merits," Muse quipped with a broad smile.
We’ll revisit his real superstitions another day.
Penguins Lines
Tommy Novak-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha-Kevin Hayes-Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty-Ben Kindel-Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari/Boko Imama
Defense
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Kris Letang
Ryan Shea-Matt Dumba/Connor Clifton
Goalies:
Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs.
Tags: Dan Muse, Evgeni Malkin, Penguins Practice, Pittsburgh Penguins
