The list of 2015 NHL All-Star Game pullouts continues to grow.
Evgeni Malkin, the league’s third-most prolific scorer, will not be attending this weekend’s event in Columbus. He will be replaced by Nashville Predators rookie Filip Forsberg.
“He won’t be ready to play right after the break,” Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford told the Tribune-Review. “It’s probably an injury that will take a little time to heal.”
Rutherford would not put a timeline on his top goal-scorer’s recovery but did say Malkin’s injury is something the forward has been dealing with for “a few weeks” and that his condition worsened during Tuesday’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
A bigger blow for local fans is the absence of Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who suffered a lower-body injury during Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets:
Bobrovsky underwent an MRI Thursday, after which it was announced that he will miss the exhibition.
Stepping in for “Goalie Bob” is St. Louis Blues netminder Brian Elliott, who will make his second all-star appearance.
Elliott leads the NHL with a 1.86 goals-against average and is 13-5-2 as the Blues’ starting goaltender. He will join teammates Vladimir Tarasenko and Kevin Shattenkirk in Columbus.
All-star goaltending selections Jimmy Howard and Pekka Rinne have already been replaced by Jaroslav Halak and Marc-Andre Fleury, respectively.
As for Malkin’s substitute, Nicklas Backstrom, Zach Parise, Klye Okposo and Joe Pavelski should be at the top of the list.
