Canucks at Penguins
The Vancouver Canucks receive a bit of a break when they continue their six-game road trip Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Vancouver, which began its trek with Tuesday's 5-2 triumph in Philadelphia, will not have to deal with Evgeni Malkin, who will be sidelined at least one game with an upper-body injury.
The 31-year-old Russian, who is second in the Penguins with 21 points, was injured in Saturday's 2-1 home loss to Chicago and will be re-evaluated on Thursday. That setback ended Pittsburgh's string of three consecutive contests with a point (2-0-1) as well as its six-game winning streak at home. The Canucks have won two straight on the road but only two of their last six overall (2-3-1). Brock Boeser scored twice in the win over the Flyers, giving him a team-leading nine tallies and a three-game goal-scoring streak.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (10-8-3): Boeser, who is riding a four-game point streak, also tops Vancouver in assists (10) and points (19). The 20-year-old right wing is the first Canucks rookie to record a goal in three straight games since Jason King accomplished the feat from Nov. 3-8, 2003. Sven Baertschi has scored five of his eight goals this season on the power play, including each of his last three over a span of four contests.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (11-8-3): While Malkin will miss Wednesday's game, Carter Rowney could return from a hand injury that has sidelined him for the last 13 contests. The 28-year-old forward, who hasn't played since Oct. 21, participated in his first full practice since the injury on Tuesday. Defenseman Matt Hunwick made an immediate impact in his return from a 15-game absence due to a concussion as he scored the team's third short-handed goal of the season on Saturday.
OVERTIME
1. Half of Penguins RW Phil Kessel's team-leading 24 points have been recorded with the man advantage.
2. Baertschi and C Bo Horvat (four) have combined for nine of Vancouver's 15 power-play goals.
3. Pittsburgh assigned D Frank Corrado, who appeared in three games this season, to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.