MALKIN SUSPENDED AS PENS FACE KEY END-OF-SEASON RUN OF GAMES

The Penguins have eight games left in the regular season. They will have to play the next four of them without center Evgeni Malkin, who was suspended by the NHL yesterday for his cross check to the face of Nashville’s Mark Borowiecki on Sunday.

The hit knocked several teeth out of Borowiecki’s mouth. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety, in a video release, says the hit to the face, “is not a case where Malkin raised his stick defensively or reflexively to defend himself.” Rather, it says, it was “retaliatory and aggressive.”

Malkin will forfeit $190,000 in salary and miss tonight’s home game against the Islanders, the rematch against the Islanders Thursday night in New York, and two games against the Boston Bruins, at Boston on Saturday and at home on April 21^st.

The Penguins yesterday returned forwards Anthony Angello and Radim Zohorna to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but one of them could be called up today to replace Malkin. Drew O’Connor or Filip Hallander could also be recalled to Pittsburgh.

Malkin’s suspension makes the return to the lineup last weekend of Jason Zucker all the more important. Zucker played both Saturday and Sunday after missing 40 of the previous 42 games, and he scored a goal on Sunday. Coach Mike Sullivan says the respect Zucker has among his teammates was pretty clear after he scored the goal.

The Penguins have played (and lost) a lot of close games lately and captain Sidney Crosby says those are the type of tight-checking games they can expect as the playoffs loom…and they’d better find a way to win them.

Goaltender Casey DeSmith had another good game on Sunday, getting the win over Nashville in overtime. He says the Penguins have kept their chins up despite recent losses as the regular season winds down.