DENVER Evgeni Malkin wont play when the Penguins face Colorado tonight at 9:08 at the Pepsi Center but could return as early as Saturday.

Malkin went through the Penguins optional game-day skate today and, while coach Mike Sullivan characterized it as a full-contact workout, there actually was very little hitting.

But if Malkin can get through a practice in Glendale, Ariz., Friday with no problem, theres a pretty good chance hell be in the lineup against the Coyotes the next night.

Hes obviously making significant progress, so thats encouraging from our standpoint, Sullivan said.

He added that theres a possibility Malkin, who will miss his sixth game in a row because of an unspecified injury tonight, will rejoin the lineup in Arizona.

Tight-knit group

Washington is starting to tighten its grip on first place in the Metropolitan Division, but the fight for playoff seeding in the rest of the division is intense.

The third-place Penguins trail Columbus by one point and lead the New York Rangers by three, so all three need every victory they can pick up.

The Penguins current trip, then, would seem to have come at an opportune time, since it features games against the Avalanche and Coyotes, the leagues two bottom-feeders.

Nonetheless, the Penguins insist they are not taking success in these two games for granted, that they recognize Colorado and Arizona are capable of denying them those badly needed points.

The league is good nowadays, defenseman Trevor Daley said. Those teams obviously are having tough years, but when the Pittsburgh Penguins come in, I think every team gets up for them.

I think were going to get their best, and I think were going to have to be at our best to beat them.

The games on this trip are part of a stretch of six in a row against Western Conference opponents, sandwiched between showdowns with the Blue Jackets.

Although the Penguins face Western clubs only twice a year and dont have much of a rivalry with most, defenseman Ian Cole said thats no reason to look past them.

I dont think there should be any lack of energy for these games, Cole said. They give you the opportunity to get points and the opportunity to get points should be energizing, in and of itself.

Hey, roomie

The Penguins are conducting their annual Dads Trip, with the fathers of most team members and staffers accompanying the club on the road for a couple of games.

Most players get a room of their own for away games but dont seem to mind sharing that space with a parent.

Perhaps because they get more than just a temporary roommate out of it.

Its an adjustment, but its a really enjoyable time for all of us, center Matt Cullen said. The best part for me is seeing it through their eyes a little bit.

We get caught up in the day-to-day grind of the season sometimes you forget to take a step back and realize youre in the NHL, and this is what you dreamed of your whole life.

To see them come in here and appreciate it so much, see how much it means to them, its a reminder of the fact that youre in the NHL, and its pretty special.

Cullens roomie/father, Terry, coached high school in Minnesota for many years.

Skates? No thanks

There was no news out of Colorados game-day skate, if only because the Avalanche didnt have one.

Late last month, team officials made it known that Colorado would not conduct any more of those in 2016-17.

Not necessarily because they has given up on the season understandable as that might be but because the Avs schedule is so compressed the rest of the way.

Tip-ins

Sidney Crosby, who needs two points to become the 86th player in NHL history to get 1,000, will be appearing in his 754th career game, moving him past Jean Pronovost and into third place on the franchises all-time list. Crosby and right winger Phil Kessel did not go on the ice during the game-day skate. ... Left winger Chris Kunitz has five points in his past five games. Cole has 18 points, a career-high.

Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG

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Evgeni Malkin making 'progress,' could return Saturday in Arizona - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette