Injured Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin to travel for upcoming road trip

Injured Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin is expected to travel with his team for an upcoming three-game road trip according to coach Mike Sullivan.

If that means Malkin will play in any of those games, that is a matter of speculation at this juncture.

Malkin has missed the past three contests due to an undisclosed malady.

Per Sullivan, Malkin skated before a practice session in Cranberry on Wednesday along with injured defenseman P.O Joseph.

Various injuries have limited Malkin to 62 games and 46 points (15 goals, 31 assists) this season.

Notes:

• Joseph remains on injured reserve due to an undisclosed malady that has sidelined him for the past 13 games.

• Injured forward Tommy Novak remained off the ice as he rehabilitates an undisclosed ailment that has kept him out of the lineup for the previous nine contests.

• Forward Joona Koppanen was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League Thursday morning under emergency roster conditions. According to Sullivan, a handful of incumbent forwards are dealing with some minor injuries and Koppanen’s recall necessitated the emergency conditions.

As it is, Koppanen’s left thigh was heavily taped following Thursday’s practice session.

• The Penguins’ lines and pairings in practice were

2 - Rutger McGroarty - 87 Sidney Crosby - 17 Bryan Rust

19 Connor Dewar - 67 Rickard Rakell - 41 Ville Koivunen

53 Philip Tomasino - 13 Kevin Hayes - 55 Noel Acciari

43 Danton Heinen - 46 Blake Lizotte - 15 Joona Koppanen

24 Matt Grzelcyk - 58 Kris Letang

20 Conor Timmins - 65 Erik Karlsson

27 Ryan Graves - 5 Ryan Shea

Timmins and Karlsson, each right-handers, have been paired together for a handful of games as of late with Karlsson on the left side. During Thursday’s practice, they switched.

• Forward Emil Bemstrom, who cleared waivers on Wednesday, and defenseman Vladislav Koylachonok, operated as reserves during rushes.

• The top power-play unit included Crosby, Grzelcyk, Koivunen, Rakell and Rust. The second power-play unit involved Hayes, Karlsson, Letang, McGroarty and Tomasino.