Penguins Lose Malkin and Korczak as Injury List Grows

The Pittsburgh Penguins' injury problems grew on Monday, with the team announcing that Evgeni Malkin and defenceman Kaedan Korczak are both out day-to-day with lower-body injuries. Neither player practised on Monday, leaving a struggling side that has already looked defensively scattered facing another reshuffle before hosting the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. The news was worse for forward Elmer Soderblom, whose status was downgraded from day-to-day to week-to-week with an upper-body injury; he has been on injured reserve since last Wednesday and was eligible to return on Saturday. Pittsburgh did make one roster move, recalling Justin Brazeau from his conditioning assignment with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after demoting Rutger McGroarty on Sunday evening. The Penguins, sitting at 5-7-2, can ill afford to lose a player of Malkin's calibre for long, and Korczak — acquired in a June trade that sent Parker Wotherspoon the other way — had been finding his place in the line-up. With three forwards and defencemen now sidelined or downgraded, Pittsburgh's depth is about to be tested in the toughest way.