Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin is scheduled to be scratched for Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche at PPG Paints Arena.
Via social media, the team announced Malkin will be sidelined due to an undisclosed injury and has been labeled as “day to day.”
The specific nature of Malkin’s injury was not identified and it is not clear if it is related to a lingering left shoulder injury that sidelined him for portions of December and January.
In 50 games this season, Malkin has 52 points (15 goals, 37 assists) while averaging 17:33 of ice time per contest.
With Malkin unavailable, rookie forward Ville Koivunen has been recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Koivunen has split the season between the NHL and AHL levels. With the NHL club, he has skated in 33 games and posted seven points (two goals, five assists) while clocking an average of 12:38 per contest.
At the AHL level, Koivunen has appeared in 29 games and scored 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists).
Koivunen is in the final year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $805,833.