Stanley Cup notes: Malkin, Hagelin absent from Penguins workout

The Pittsburgh Penguins began preparations Tuesday for their third consecutive second-round playoff series against Washington with two key forwards not on the ice.

Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan was already minus centre Evgeni Malkin for Sunday's Game 6 against Philadelphia when his linemate, Carl Hagelin, went down after taking a hit from Flyers captain Claude Giroux midway through Pittsburgh's series-clinching 8-5 win.

Hagelin, who scored his first goal of these playoffs earlier on Sunday, appeared to have blood in his mouth when he skated to the bench, where he stayed briefly before walking to the dressing room.

"I think those are two huge parts of our team," Penguins centre Riley Sheahan said of Hagelin and Malkin, who had three goals and five points in the first four games of the opening-round series. "[Malkin], we rely on him to score goals and make plays. Haggy, same thing. A force for us on the [penalty kill] and creates a lot of energy."

Pittsburgh boasts a 9-1 record all-time in post-season action against Washington, which has prevailed eight times over that span in Game 1. On Monday, the Capitals eliminated Columbus with a fourth consecutive victory in the series, highlighted by Alex Ovechkin's 50th NHL playoff goal and Braden Holtby's 35-save performance.

Sharks' Thornton out for Round 2 opener

San Jose centre Joe Thornton will miss a 40th straight game with an injured medial collateral ligament in his right knee when the Sharks open a Western Conference semifinal against the Vegas Golden Knights later this week.

The encouraging news is the 38-year-old centre has been skating regularly with the team the past few weeks and took the pre-game warmup during the Sharks' first-round series against Anaheim.

Thornton, who suffered the injury in a Jan. 23 games against Winnipeg, posted 36 points in 47 regular-season games and has 123 points in 160 NHL playoff contests.

Fortunately for head coach Peter DeBoer, San Jose's top line of Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane and Joonas Donskoi helped offset Thornton's absence by combining for 12 points in the series sweep of the Ducks. The Sharks are 23-13-3 without the London, Ont., native this season, including the playoffs.

"Probably the biggest thing was getting [over] that confidence hump of not having him there, not having his presence there in games, in the room, in practice," DeBoer told reporters of dealing with Thornton's absence. "To be honest, we probably had a week there where we were a little rattled as a group, just trying to get the group past that and establishing a belief in our game with the group that we had in there without him."

Brent Burns ready to play

While defenceman Brent Burns didn't join his Sharks teammates for practice Sunday morning, he did take the ice earlier in the morning with assistant coach Rob Zettler.

Burns was also a no-show at Friday's workout but will be in the lineup to begin Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, according to head coach Peter DeBoer.

The six-foot-five, 230-pound native of Ajax, Ont., played Game 4 after missing the last 10 minutes seven seconds of Game 3 against Anaheim when he was sent to the dressing room early, but the injury has not been disclosed.

Burns, 33, had two goals and four points in the first four games versus the Ducks after amassing 67 points in the regular season, tied with Dallas' John Klingberg for second among NHL defencemen behind Washington's John Carlson (68).

Capitals' Carlson a playoff player?

Speaking of Carlson, fresh off career highs in goals (15), assists (53) and points in his ninth NHL season, the 28-year-old from Natick, Mass., matched the Capitals record for most points in a playoff series by a defenceman with nine against Columbus, a mark set by Kevin Hatcher in the 1988 division semifinals against Philadelphia.

Carlson struggled in last year's playoffs with only four points in 13 starts but the previous spring he had five goals and 12 points in as many games. Head coach Barry Trotz leaned heavily on the 28-year-old in the first round as Carlson ranked seventh among all playoff participants averaging 27 minutes 35 seconds of ice time, compared to 24:47 during the regular campaign.

Recently, Trotz conceded to the Washington Post that there are players who earn a reputation for what they do in the post-season. Eight years later, Carlson's teammates with the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears still talk about his stellar play in the Calder Cup playoffs when the team won back-to-back championships.

"He always raises his game in the playoffs," said Capitals goalie Braden Holtby of Carlson, a pending unrestricted free agent. "I mean, he always has since I was with him in Hershey. He doesn't shy away from anything. He doesn't get intimidated by anything. Pressure doesn't affect him. I think that's why we lean on him so heavy in the playoffs."