Morning Skate Buzz

Penguins (33-13-6) @ Avalanche (15-33-2)

1. – Evgeni Malkin is close to returning to the lineup. Won’t play tonight but could play vs Arizona on Saturday. Tonight will be Malkin’s sixth missed game. The Penguins are 3-1-1 without him.

Malkin remains 5th in the NHL in points.

NHL POINTS LEADERS
1. Sidney Crosby – 60 Points
2. Connor McDavid – 60 Points
3. Brent Burns – 57 Points
4. Brad Marchand – 55 Points
5. Evgeni Malkin – 54 Points.

2. — Matt Murray will start in goal for the Penguins. With the Penguins on their Dads trip, it’s expected Marc Andre Fleury will start Saturday vs Arizona. Calvin Pickard coming off a 4-0 shutout win over the Canadiens, goes for Colorado. Pickard is 1-0-1 in two career starts vs the Penguins.

3. — Sidney Crosby enters tonight with 998 points, looking to become the third Penguin in team history with 1,000 points (as a Penguin) and eighth active NHL player with 1,000 points.

All-time Points Leaders in Penguins History

1.Mario Lemieux 1723
2.Jaromir Jagr 1079
3. Sidney Crosby 998
4. Evgeni Malkin 814
5.Rick Kehoe 636
6.Ron Francis 613
7. Jean Pronovost 603
8. Kevin Stevens 555
9. Syl Apps 500
10. Martin Straka 442

Crosby is 10 assists away from tying Jaromir Jagr for the second most assists in team history.

All-time Assists Leaders in Penguins History

1 Mario Lemieux 1033
2. Jaromir Jagr 640
3. Sidney Crosby 630
4. Evgeni Malkin 497
5. Ron Francis 449

4. The Penguins enter tonight 18th in the NHL on the road (11-10-3). Colorado eyeing their first three game winning streak of the season, are 7-18-1 at home.

5. Trade Stock Watch: [hide]

Matt Duchene (15 goals – 17 assists – 32 points) | Has 8 points (2 goals – 6 assists) in his last nine games

Gabriel Landeskog (9 Goals – 11 Assists – 20 Points | Like Duchene, Landeskog is having a disappointing season. Has points in consecutive games after a 2 assist night vs the Canadiens on Tuesday night. Landeskog had 2 goals vs the Penguins on 10/17, the Avs second game of the season. Since then he has 7 goals in his last 38 games.[/hide]