Dan Muse provides injury updates ahead of game vs Blackhawks

The Penguins are getting set to come out of the holiday break and travel to the Windy City for a Sunday night road contest against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Penguins skated and practiced prior to Sunday's game and head coach Dan Muse provided some injury updates to the media.

Center Blake Lizotte was on the ice in a full contact jersey and was taking line rushes in his usual spot with Connor Dewar and Noel Acciari. But center Evgeni Malkin was not on the ice for practice, and it can be assumed that he will not travel or play in the Penguins next game against the Blackhawks.

It is a telling sign that Lizotte was cleared for contact and took line rushes. He seems set to make his return against Chicago. The Penguins have been missing him and his forechecking ability and his penalty killing.

But the Penguins will still be missing Evgeni Malkin as he has been a mainstay at second-line center for the team for so many years. And the fact that he had been centering Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau till the injury and how that line was one of the Penguins best lines this season.

The Penguins were hoping that Malkin was going to be back right after the Christmas break but that does not seem to be the case. It seems like he needs more time to recover from the injury that he suffered a while ago.

It is also encouraging to see that defenseman Caleb Jones is finally starting to skate after suffering an injury at the end of October which is about two months of recovery time now. When Jones was healthy he used to be on the Penguins third defensive pairing, but that has been a rotating door since his injury and Harrison Brunicke's demotion.

Altogether, the Penguins got more positive injury updates than negative ones. Obviously, they were hoping that Malkin would be ready to go out of the holiday break, but it seems to be a bit longer on that front.