A Couple Penguins Banged Up In Intra-Squad Scrimmage
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Pittsburgh Penguins opened their second day of training camp on Saturday morning, and an intense intra-squad scrimmage led to some players getting banged up.
First, Evgeni Malkin took a high-stick from Matt Cullen and skated to the locker room. It was the second time Malkin has been hit up high in less than a week, after taking a high stick in informal workouts on Tuesday.
Malkin got caught with an inadvertent high stick and went down. He was able to skate off on his own and headed to the locker room. -MC
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) September 15, 2018
Malkin returned a short time later. Cullen then gave Malkin a hug as they lined up for a faceoff later in the scrimmage.
Second-year forward Zach Aston-Reese, coming off a broken jaw on an illegal Tom Wilson hit in last year's playoff loss against the Washington Capitals, also took a puck to the face off the stick of Kris Letang.
He also appeared to be OK after the incident.
Zach Aston-Reese on an injury-scare-filled scrimmage: "I don't know if it was because it was hotter yesterday, whether that affected the ice today. Pucks and sticks were up high. Guys were throwing the bodies."
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) September 15, 2018
Two players expected to be major contributors this season are still absent from camp.
Riley Sheahan, who is expected to fill the fourth-line center role, and Derick Brassard, who could be the third-line center, were both out. The Penguins announced that Sheahan is dealing with a "lower-body" injury and Brassard is battling illness.
