Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin will miss six-to-eight weeks with an upper-body injury, general manager Jim Rutherford announced Saturday.
Malkin was injured after a collision with defenseman Dalton Prout behind the Blue Jackets' net during his team's 3-2 win over Columbus on Friday.
He will not require surgery to repair the damage, which appeared to be to his left hand or wrist.
His 27 goals and 58 points trail only Sidney Crosby on the Penguins this season. The team went 5-4-1 during a 10-game stretch in February that the Russian missed due to a lower-body injury.
Evgeni Malkin will have missed 138 games since 2009-10. Crosby has missed 122 since then. Letang 120.
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) March 12, 2016
The current timeline likely rules Malkin out for at least the opening round of the postseason if the Penguins qualify. They current sit three points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
