Malkin Injured

Evgeni Malkin made his Penguins debut tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. He was off to a great start, picking up an assist on his first shift of the game. He took a loose puck from behind the net, sent a nice pass out to the right point, where Micki Dupont took the puck and sent it to Sergei Gonchar at the left point, who buried a laser to open the scoring.

Malkin made several slick plays throughout the period, and didn't look out of place at all. Unfortunately, his night came to an early end. He and John LeClair had a scoring opportunity early in the second period. Malkin slid a beautiful pass over to LeClair who was streaking down the left wing, LeClair seemed to lose his footing, and went crashing into the boards, at the same time Malkin had circled the net and collided with LeClair. Malkin went head over feet and came crashing down on his face, neck and upper body. He was down for quite some time, but was able to get to his skates and leave the ice. He was clutching his left arm and bent over the entire way off the ice.

General Manager Ray Shero addressed the media after the game. He said Malkin is suffering from an upper body injury and that he was cleared to fly home with the team tonight. There will be an update tomorrow after Malkin is evaluated by the medical staff in Pittsburgh. Shero did not elaborate beyond that. He did say that he was just glad to see the kid get up after such a horrific fall. He also said that he is not preparing for life without Malkin when asked. Saying that he didn't want to get into speculation, but he knows that they will have him back at some point. Shero also mentioned being very impressed with his play prior to the injury.

Malkin did look great early in the game. He does not look out of place and was one of the fastest players on the ice. He gets to every loose puck and always seems to make the smart play.

More tomorrow as it comes out.....