The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t played many games without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin over the past 20 years, but they found themselves in that situation on Friday — and passed the test without their two star players. Now, they will look to carry that momentum into a Saturday road game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Pittsburgh is 3-0-1 in its last four games, most recently beating the New York Rangers 3-2 on Friday. Crosby missed the game with an upper-body injury after playing in 229 straight contests. Malkin is out with a lower-body injury and is listed as week-to-week.
It’s unclear if Crosby will return for the game on Saturday.
“Right now, we’re just taking it one day at a time when it comes to Crosby’s situation, but it’s encouraging he was on the ice (Friday) for the optional game-day skate,” said coach Mike Sullivan. Crosby leads the team in assists (41) and points (58). “Obviously, he’s an important player for us. When he’s not in our lineup, he’s a hard guy to replace. He’s the heartbeat of this team.”
Malkin hasn’t had his best season, but he still has 34 points in 47 games.
Without their two superstars, the Penguins have been leaning on players like winger Rickard Rakell, who has scored in the last two games, and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who has given up only eight goals in his last five games.
“We’ve put ourselves in a spot to climb back to .500 now,” said Nedeljkovic, referring to the Penguins’ 23-24-9 record. “Gives us a chance to (get there Saturday). So, we’re hoping to get the job done.”
The Flyers are at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, sitting below the Penguins. They’ve lost five straight games (0-4-1) and scored only five goals during that stretch, which included three shutout losses in a row.
Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)Philadelphia fought hard against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Thursday but lost 4-3.
“I thought we played a (heck) of a game. Just a couple breaks here and there,” said Tyson Foerster, who has scored in two straight games.
Flyers coach John Tortorella, who is calmer than in his earlier coaching days, is trying to stay composed despite the long losing streak.
“There’s a lot of encouraging things in this God-awful losing streak we’re in,” Tortorella said. “I still think we have a lot of meaningful games left.”
Saturday’s game will be the final one for both teams before the league takes a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh won’t play again until Feb. 22, when they will face each other twice before the end of the month.
The Penguins won the first meeting of the season 7-3 on Dec. 23. Pittsburgh scored four goals in the first period, three of which were assisted by Crosby, and the Penguins captain added an empty-net goal in the third period.
