Penguins Practice Shorthanded As Injury Woes Worsen

The Pittsburgh Penguins returned to practice on Monday after Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, but were without two players who played in that game. 

Before practice started, Penguins PR posted on X that Evgeni Malkin and Kaedan Korczak would miss practice due to injuries and are day-to-day. Both players played against the Canadiens on Saturday and finished the game. 

In response to this news, the Penguins called up forward Justin Brazeau from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after he was down there on a conditioning stint. 

Penguins head coach Dan Muse confirmed after practice that Brazeau is available for Tuesday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights. He's also not super concerned with Malkin's injury. 

Other practice notes

- With the new injuries, the lines were a bit jumbled at practice. However, this is what they looked like:

Novak-Crosby-Rakell

Kuzmenko-Kindel-Chinakhov

Koivunen-Lapierre-Brazeau

Dewar-Lizotte-Robertson

- Putting Kuzmenko with Kindel is super interesting and it's time for the former to start producing. He has yet to score this season and that needs to change. 

- I still like the fourth line quite a bit, and it was good to see the top line finally produce on Saturday, even in a loss. Sidney Crosby was sensational in that game and he'll need to keep playing at that level if the Penguins want to get out of this rut that they're in. 

- The defense rotated because of Korczak's injury, but don't be surprised if Jake Livanavage comes up from WBS if Korczak goes on injured reserve. Livanavage has been great to start the year with two goals and eight points in nine games. 

- The Penguins will return to action on Tuesday against the Golden Knights. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET. 

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!