Pittsburgh Penguins Make Last-Minute Roster Moves Involving Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby

The Penguins will welcome back an important veteran to their lineup today against Washington. The team announced that center Evgeni Malkin has been activated off injured reserve after having missed the last six games.

To make room on the roster, winger Emil Bemstrom was sent down to the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Malkin suffered a lower-body injury early in the Penguins game on January 25th and has not played since then. However, he has been a full participant in practice in recent days which made this announcement pretty much an expected one.

Head coach Mike Sullivan also announced that Sidney Crosby will also be playing in today's game. Bryan Rust will not suit up as he remains on injured reserve with an illness.

The 38-year-old Malkin got off to a scorching start to his season with 24 points in his first 27 games but has seen his production slow down ever since then with just 10 points in his last 20 outings.

Nonetheless, the 19-year-veteran still is a key part of Pittsburgh's attack, anchoring their second line while averaging well over 18 minutes a night on the ice and also ranks fifth on the team in scoring.

With the Penguins entering play today six points out of the final Wild Card spot, they'll need Malkin to get back to his early-season form if they are to have any hopes of a late push to get back into a playoff spot.

Crosby, on the other hand, is fresh off a massive 4 Nations Team Canada win, where he was a key contributor to the country's success. He was nursing an injury prior to the tournament but now appears to be fully healed and ready for action.