Penguins' Evgeni Malkin (upper body) heads to IR

Field Level MediaField Level Media|published: Tue 9th December, 11:22 2025
NHL: Seattle Kraken at Pittsburgh PenguinsNov 22, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) reacts to the Seattle Kraken as linesman Shandor Alphonso (52) restrains Malkin during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with an upper-body injury.

Malkin, 39, did not play in Sunday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars after recording two goals and an assist in Pittsburgh's 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

Penguins head coach Dan Muse initially said Malkin was day-to-day with the injury. He is now considered week-to-week.

Also headed to IR with an upper-body injury is forward Blake Lizotte. It's unclear when Lizotte suffered the injury.


Lizotte had an assist, two hits and two blocks in 13:59 minutes of ice time against the Stars on Sunday.

In corresponding moves, the Penguins recalled forwards Danton Heinen and Sam Poulin from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.

The second overall pick of the 2004 NHL Draft, Malkin led the league in points (2008-09, 2011-12) and earned the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP in 2012. He won three Stanley Cup Championships with the Penguins (2009, 2016, 2017).

In 26 games this season, he is second on the team with 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) and has a plus-5 rating. He has 1,375 points (522 goals, 853 assists) in 1,239 career games, all with the Penguins.

Lizotte has five points (three goals, two assists) in 27 games this season. He has 131 points (51 goals, 80 assists) in 406 games with the Los Angeles Kings (2018-24) and Penguins.


--Field Level Media

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