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Pens try to put injury news behind them in clash with Blue Jackets

Feb 8, 2011 - 3:44 PM (Sports Network) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to bounce back after a rough couple of days when they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets for tonight's battle at CONSOL Energy Center.

The Penguins won their fifth straight game Friday, posting a 3-2 win over visiting Buffalo, but the biggest news to come out of that game was anything but good for Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin suffered a torn ACL and MCL in the win over the Sabres and will likely miss the rest of the season due to the knee injury. In their first game after the Malkin injury announcement, the Penguins had their five-game win streak halted with a shutout loss in Washington.

Michal Neuvirth turned away 22 shots to lead the Capitals to Sunday's 3-0 victory at Verizon Center. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 shots for the Penguins, who had also won eight out of nine coming into Sunday's tilt.

With Malkin sidelined, the Pens would like to see captain and superstar centerman Sidney Crosby back on the ice soon, but Sid the Kid is still dealing with a concussion. Crosby has missed the last 13 games, but still leads Pittsburgh in both goals (32) and points (66) this season.

Crosby has been skating on his own, but there is still no timetable for his return to game action.

Pittsburgh, which is 19-9-1 as the host this season, is three points behind the rival Philadelphia Flyers for first place in both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, will aim for their first three-game winning streak of the 2011 calendar year when they visit the Pens tonight. Columbus is coming off wins over Detroit and Edmonton and hasn't won three in a row since Dec. 27-31.

The club's most recent victory came Saturday against the visiting Edmonton Oilers. R.J. Umberger and Kristian Huselius both scored twice to help the Blue Jackets notch the 4-3 win over the lowly Oilers.

Umberger and Huselius' second goals of the contest came just 2:16 apart in the third period. Umberger tied the game at 3-3 at 13:44 of the third and Huselius tallied the game-winner at 16 minutes on the nose. Huselius kept the puck himself on a 2-on-1 rush and scored on a wrister from the slot.

"I wanted to make sure we got a shot on net," said Huselius. "I shot high, and it went in."

In addition to his two goals, Umberger also had two assists. Steve Mason allowed three goals on 26 shots to get the win for Columbus.

Columbus defenseman Rostislav Klesla missed his fourth straight game Saturday with a lower-body injury and is questionable for tonight. Forward Chris Clark is also questionable after sitting out the last two games with an undisclosed injury.

The Blue Jackets will aim for a fourth straight road win tonight. They are 12-10-4 as the visiting club this season.

Pittsburgh recorded a 7-2 dismantling of the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Dec. 4. Crosby and Paul Martin each had a pair of goals for the Pens in that blowout win, which marked Pittsburgh's fourth triumph in its last five tilts against Columbus.

The Jackets have lost three straight and four out of five in Pittsburgh and tonight's tilt will mark Columbus' first game at CONSOL Energy Center.