Penguins’ Malkin to miss rest of week with lower-body injury

Pittsburgh Penguins All-Star center Evgeni Malkin won’t be available for the next week as he deals with a lower-body injury, coach Mike Sullivan said Tuesday.

The Penguins’ offense, dormant for so much of the season, had another big evening, putting up six goals for the second time in the past four games as they won for the sixth time in the past seven.

Malkin ranks among the league leaders with 23 goals and 49 points. “I don’t want to brush it off, but we’ve been playing some good hockey lately and we don’t want to put all our chips into one game”.

Chris Kunitz, Conor Sheary, Carl Hagelin and Olli Maatta also scored for the Penguins, who have won 6 of 7. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots.

Stone picked up two goals and an assist in the victory over the Thunder to make it five goals and three assists in his past four games, while he was joined on the scoresheet by Zack Smith, Shane Prince and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. “With Sid going the way he is, it gives everybody confidence”, Kunitz said. “It gives us a good feeling that we’re going to have something we can accomplish out there and get points”.

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin is expected to miss his team’s next three games due to an undisclosed injury which has already sidelined him for three contests. Crosby has 26 points since January 1.

Much has been made of Anaheim’s struggles in the second period, not only this season but under the entire tenure of head coach Bruce Boudreau, but of late it’s been the third period that has been winning time for the Ducks. For as much as they’ve been dominant in the third period, in the longstanding bugaboo seconds they have a +3 goal differential and +12 shots on goal edge during this current run of form. The assist was Letang’s 250th career point.

He scored on a breakaway for his second goal of the night. Bursting in from the blue line, he got behind the Anaheim defense and beat Gibson with a backhander for his first goal with the Penguins.

The Penguins are 7-0-2 in their past nine home games.

The Ducks are 52-24 in their last 76 Monday games and 5-0 in their last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.

The Penguins will be back in action Wednesday night when they host the New York Rangers.

Anaheim opens their longest road trip of the season against a Pittsburgh side looking to build on their own current wildcard playoff cushion.