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Several Key Penguins Absent from Practice After Participating in Team Photo Day
Photo credit: Pittsburgh Penguins
Absent from Penguins' practice were several key figures of the team, who did participate in the annual team photograph but were unable to skate afterward.
The Pittsburgh Penguins gathered at PPG Paints Arena for their annual team photograph, and all players were present.
However, that wasn't the case for the subsequent practice. Among the players who were unable to participate were Evgeni Malkin, P.O. Josseph, and Tommy Novak.
All 3 players are dealing with various injuries.
The Penguins are practicing downtown this afternoon, as it was team photo day.
Evgeni Malkin (upper body), P.O Joseph (upper body) and Tommy Novak (lower body) took part in that, but are absent from practice.
Evgeni Malkin (upper body), P.O Joseph (upper body) and Tommy Novak (lower body) took part in that, but are absent from practice.
Malkin missed his 3rd straight game on Sunday, Pittsburgh's exciting 1-0 OT win over the Ottawa Senators.
Earlier in the week, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan explained that nobody is more affected by lapses in production or availability more than Malkin himself.
«Geno, for a generational talent and a first-ballot Hall of Famer, when he doesn't produce for whatever reason through stretches of time, nobody feels it more than him. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to produce offensively for our team. And when he struggles in that regard, it affects his confidence.
«As talented as he is, one would think that those guys never suffer challenges with confidence, but they're human. And when it doesn't go the right way, I think Geno is one of those guys. When it goes the right way, it's the opposite, and that's when he's feeling good and he's confident and he's satisfied with his overall game.»
For Novak, it was his 9th straight game in which he couldn't play due to a lower body injury. Meanwhile, Joseph has missed 12 straight games and was recently placed on Injured Reserve.
Because of their absences, the Penguins recently re-called prospects Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 1 | 122 ANSWERS Several Key Penguins Absent from Practice After Participating in Team Photo Day Can Kyle Dubas make the necessary adjustments this summer to ensure the Penguins return to the playoffs next year? | ||
| Yes | 76 | 62.3 % |
| No | 46 | 37.7 % |
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