PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) –Evgeni Malkin will return tonight as the Pens are the first of back-to-back games in Philadelphia. Pens head coach Mike Sullivan announced the decision early Monday afternoon. Malkin centered his normal line with Jason Zucker (on his natural left side) and Kasperi Kapanen-who has five points since his return from injury on April 22.
Malkin has been out since March 16 after a hit against the Bruins. He has 8 goals and 16 assists in 29 games, but had points in eight straight games before the injury. Malkin was on a line at the time with Kapanen and mostly Zucker.
“It’s exciting,” said forward Jeff Carter. “It’s exciting for me to have another tool out there. For the whole team, it’s something they’ve been looking forward to is getting everyone back healthy. Seeing what we got here with a full lineup. That’s one guy back. We got a couple more to get back and it should be looking pretty good.”
In 63 career games, Malkin has 29 goals and 48 assists against the Flyers. The only team he has better numbers against are the Islanders, but in seven more matchups.
Look for former Flyer Mark Friedman to take the spot of defenseman Mike Matheson. Friedman skated Monday with Cody Ceci as the other defensive pairings remained the same. Matheson is week-to-week after taking a puck to the face.