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The Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> will not have star forward Evgeni Malkin for the next five games after he was suspended on Friday night. Malkin was ejected from Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres<\/a> for dangerously (and selfishly<\/a>) slashing Rasmus Dahlin in the head early in the second period.\u00a0<\/p>\n He will be eligible to return for the March 16 game against the Colorado Avalanche<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Being without Malkin is a problem for the Penguins for quite a few reasons.<\/p>\n For one, the future Hall of Famer has still been one of their best and most productive players this season, even though he is 39 years old. He has been a big part of their surprising season that has them in a playoff position entering the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n What makes the suspension of Malkin even worse for the Penguins is that they are also playing without their other top player, captain Sidney Crosby.<\/p>\n Crosby has been sidelined since the Olympic break due to a lower-body injury he suffered at the 2026 Winter Olympics.\u00a0<\/p>\n If there is some good news for the Penguins in all of this, it is that Crosby was back at practice on Friday and seems to be getting closer to a potential return, perhaps sooner than expected. While he is not likely to play in their two games this weekend against the Philadelphia Flyers<\/a> (Saturday) and Boston Bruins<\/a> (Sunday), a return on the Penguins’ upcoming road trip next week certainly seems to be possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n Malkin has missed 15 games this season due to injury, a series of games that sidelined him throughout December and early January. The Penguins went 6-5-4 during that stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n The difference this time, however, is that the Penguins still had Crosby during that stretch. They will not have him for at least the start of this next five-game stretch.<\/p>\n The Penguins are still in a pretty good spot in the standings and the Eastern Conference playoff race with a little bit of a cushion, but this could still make things uncomfortably close if they lose a couple of games while the teams chasing them (specifically the Columbus Blue Jackets) continue to win. If they can find a way to split the games this weekend, they should still be in a good position.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nPenguins will have to play tough stretch of games without their top two players<\/h2>\n