Evgeni Malkin Injury: Updates on Penguins Star's Status

Despite still dealing with the lingering effects of an undisclosed upper-body injury, Pittsburgh Penguins star center Evgeni Malkin is getting closer to returning to the lineup.

UPDATE: Thursday, March 28, at 5:10 p.m. ET by Tim Keeney

According to the Penguins' official Twitter account, Malkin is officially back:

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UPDATE: Thursday, March 28, 11:40 a.m. ET by Donald Wood

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin told the team’s official Twitter account about his status for tonight’s game and going forward after sustaining an undisclosed upper-body injury early in March:

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UPDATE: Friday, March 22, at 12:30 p.m ET by Michael Cahill

Jesse Spector of Sporting News tweeted this morning that Malkin is out for tonights game. 

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UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar. 18, at 11:32 a.m. ET by Brandon Galvin

Encouraging news for Penguins fans as superstar Evgeni Malkin is expected to return to action soon, possibly this Friday, according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Seth Rorabaugh.

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UPDATE: Friday, Mar. 15 at 2:35 p.m. ET by Tim Daniels

Malkin skated on Friday but he's already been ruled out for Saturday's game against the New York Rangers, according to the team's official Twitter feed.

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UPDATE: Wednesday, Mar. 13, at 11:53 a.m. ET by Brandon Galvin

Encouraging news for Penguins fans as Evgeni Malkin is skating and partaking in light individual drills, according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Seth Rorabaugh.

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The Post-Gazette's Shelly Anderson captured video of injured Penguins center Evgeni Malkin skating at Consol Energy Center today prior to his teammates' regular practice:

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UPDATE: Sunday, Mar. 11, at 10:13 p.m. ET by Dan Talintyre

Newsday's Arthur Staple reports that the center will likely be out for the next few games as he recovers from his upper-body injury.

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UPDATE: March 10, at 5:08 p.m. ET by Richard Langford

Penguins beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dave Molinari, reports that an update on Malkin will be offered up after the Penguins' game against the Islanders on Sunday.

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Luckily for Pens fans, it doesn't look to be anything serious for Malkin. The Penguins tweeted that the center was only kept out for "precautionary reasons":

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MALKIN UPDATE: Upper body injury on Malkin. Not a head injury. He was kept out for precautionary reasons.

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 10, 2013"

According to Adam Gretz of CBSSports.com, Malkin picked up the injury in the third period after a hit from James van Riemsdyk. As Gretz also pointed out, the player was just coming back after missing the previous four games because of a concussion. There was going to be some major consternation from Pens fans wondering if it was another head injury. Because it's an upper-body injury, the concern is not quite as great.

The 2012 campaign marked a banner year for Malkin, as he won the Hart Memorial Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award and Art Ross Trophy. The 50 goals he scored were a career high and his 59 assists tied his second-highest output during a season. It was the first season in which he really overtook Sidney Crosby as the best player on the team.

His five goals and 18 assists have helped to spur Pittsburgh to second place in the Eastern Conference this year. The Penguins are only two points behind the Montreal Canadiens.

Losing Malkin would have crippled the Penguins last season, as he did incredibly well to fill the void left by Crosby. This year, he's been helped out by Crosby, James Neal and Chris Kunitz in terms of offensive output.

As the injury doesn't look to be too severe, Penguins fans shouldn't be expecting Malkin to be out for too long.