Sidney Crosby has been quiet for much of the season. 

But he was not quiet on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had their annual team Halloween party this past weekend, and from Chuckie to Sesame Street to Femme-bot (hello, Erik Karlsson), there were some good ones.

Already down, well, a lot of people, the Pittsburgh Penguins look like they'll be missing yet another forward for their Saturday home tilt against the Nashville Predators.

Forward Evgeni Malkin, who missed Friday's team practice, will not play Saturday due to illness. Forward Egor Chinakhov is also expected to miss his second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury, defenseman Sam Girard was placed on injured reserve, and forwards Ben Kindel, Bryan Rust, and Justin Brazeau - as well as defensemen Trevor van Riemsdyk and Ryan Graves - were already on IR.

Pittsburgh Penguins' forward Egor Chinakhov was a late scratch against the Florida Panthers, and he was designated as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

The news came after the revelation that both Bryan Rust and Ben Kindel - who experienced a vasovagal episode on the team plane Tuesday that prompted an emergency landing back in Utah - were placed on injured reserve.

With the hockey world and the city of Pittsburgh anxiously awaiting official word on forward Ben Kindel's status - which should come Thursday morning via a Kyle Dubas press conference - Penguins' head coach Dan Muse did deliver a small bit of encouraging news Wednesday. 

Speaking on his weekly 'Coach's Show' on the Penguins' flagship radio station, 105.9 The X, Muse gave a slightly positive word on Kindel to open the show.

Even if the Pittsburgh Penguins aren't off to the most optimal of starts to the 2026-27 season, it hasn't been all bad for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins, who have a 3-2-1 record through six AHL games. 

And they have some players on a tear to begin the season, too. 

On Monday, the Penguins completed a trade with the Buffalo Sabres to acquire 25-year-old former first-round pick Ryan Johnson. The left defenseman joins prospects Jake Livanavage, Owen Pickering, and Maleek McGowan as well as recently waived blueliner Ilya Solovyov on the left side in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS).

Given the already-heavy jam on the forward front - and the defensive logjam that has probably been created - do you think the Penguins are giving their prospects a fair enough shot at NHL minutes? Or are the prospects simply not good enough at this point to crack the NHL roster on a more permanent basis?

Not every Penguin showed up for Friday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but there's one guy who certainly did. 

22-year-old rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov stopped 43 of 45 Jackets' shots Friday, delivering a gargantuan effort to earn his team an undeserved point.

Erik Karlsson is a man with plenty of personality. 

And, after a rough game Monday against the Winnipeg Jets, he made light of the situation. 

After Pittsburgh's 7-0 display of dominance over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, many of the guys were in pretty good spirits.

And center Hendrix Lapierre, who recorded a goal and an assist in the game, was about ready to run through a wall afterward.