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Penguins will be without Malkin on ‘week-to-week’ basis

Boston Bruins v Pittsburgh Penguins

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 07: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates with the puck against the Boston Bruins at PPG PAINTS Arena on January 7, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Matt Kincaid/Getty Images)

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PITTSBURGH -- Not only did the Pittsburgh Penguins drop what could prove to be an important point against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night, but they also found out they will be without one of their top players for an extended period of time.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan announced after their 2-1 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers that superstar center Evgeni Malkin will be out of the lineup on a “week-to-week” basis with an undisclosed upper-body injury.

Malkin did not play in Sunday’s game after he appeared to be injured in Saturday’s loss to the St. Louis Blues.

The injury seemingly occurred when he was cross-checked away from the play by Blues defender Robert Bortuzzo. There was no penalty called on the play. Malkin was down on the ice in obvious pain for several moments but remained in the game. He was replaced on the second line on Sunday night by Teddy Blueger, who skated between Phil Kessel and Bryan Rust.

Malkin’s absence on Sunday coincided with the return of Rust, continuing what has been a frustrating run of injury luck for the team as they can not quite seem to get everyone healthy at the same time. The Penguins are already playing without two of their top defenders -- including their top defender -- as Kris Letang and Olli Maatta remained sidelined.

Malkin just recorded his 1,000th career point on Tuesday night in a come-from-behind win against the Washington Capitals, and in 66 games this season has 71 points (21 goals, 50 assists) and is the team’s second-leading scorer, trailing only captain Sidney Crosby.

The Penguins currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division, sitting three points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes who still have two games in hand. The two teams meet two more times this season, including on Tuesday night in Raleigh. They are still seven points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens, the first team currently on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

The Penguins have nine games remaining in the regular season and are set to begin a tough four-game road trip that will feature games against Carolina, the Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, and New York Rangers.

Related: Hart, Flyers steal two points with late surge against Penguins

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.