Penguins place star center Evgeni Malkin on injured reserve

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins placed center Evgeni Malkin on injured reserve Tuesday with an upper-body injury.

The move comes after the 39-year-old Malkin sat out a shootout loss to Dallas on Sunday. Malkin, in the final season of his contract with the Penguins, is off to one of the better starts of his 20-year career.

The Russian has eight goals and 21 assists in 26 games for surprising Pittsburgh, which began the season with modest expectations but is firmly in contention in the competitive Metropolitan Division.

The Penguins also placed forward Blake Lizotte on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Lizotte has three goals and two assists in 27 games.

The club described Malkin and Lizotte as both week to week.

Pittsburgh recalled forwards Danton Heinen and Sam Poulin from their American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to fill out the roster ahead of Tuesday night's visit by Anaheim, the start of a five-game homestand.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL