• Mike Sullivan was peculiarly terse on Evgeni Malkin's injury, saying only that he'd reiterate the team's official report that it's an upper-body injury. Wouldn't even divulge when it happened.

• Sullivan wasn't happy at all: "I thought the third period was our best. And we gave up two."

• He really hate the slash call on Blake Lizotte, telling me, "It was a stick lift."

• His assessment of Tristan Jarry was less than glowing: "He can be better." At least some of that, based on the way the issue was broached, was based on not making a single save in the shootout.

• Same freaking move by both shootout scorers, being mocked by Columbus social media:

• Jarry had stuff to say, too. Talked about giving up first-shot goals, acknowledging he doesn't want to do that but said of the one tonight, "I'm not sure what I could've done there."

• Brief chat with Rickard Rakell will result in the Drive, I think. Damn, he was good. And yet, he still easily could've had a hat trick, too, if not for Elvis Merzlikins coming up huge on those back-to-back attempts. (Yes, timely, exceedingly athletic saves remain legal in the NHL.)

• You'll never guess what the column's going to be about.

Evgeni Malkin was scratched from the Penguins' game against the Blue Jackets tonight because of an upper-body injury, per the team, ending his streak of games played at 209.

And that was that.

Mike Sullivan was uncharacteristically terse on the topic when asked afterward for additional information, saying only that he'd limit his remark to the team's official announcement. He wouldn't even acknowledging knowing when Malkin was hurt, which would be significant in this case since he was a full participating in the morning skate today in Cranberry, with nothing appearing amiss.

The Penguins will have their morning skate today, 10:30 a.m., at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, while the Blue Jackets have theirs a half-hour later at PPG Paints Arena. I'll have live updates of the home team's session right here on this file.

• Bryan Rust, Ryan Shea and Alex Nedeljkovic, who is celebrating his 29th birthday today, were the first three on the ice for the morning skate here in Cranberry: 

• Looks like we've got a full skate here this morning. 

• Appears as if Jesse Puljujarvi has replaced Anthony Beauvillier as a third-line winger during line rushes. Here are the lines and defensive pairings:

Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Cody Glass
Drew O'Connor - Kevin Hayes - Jesse Puljujarvi
Matt Nieto - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari
Anthony Beauvillier

Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk - Erik Karlsson
Owen Pickering - P.O Joseph
Ryan Graves - Ryan Shea

• Power-play units:

No. 1 - Crosby, Rakell, Rust, Bunting, Grzelcyk
No. 2 - Malkin, Hayes, O'Connor, Letang, Karlsson

• Tristan Jarry is the first goalie off the ice. Mike Sullivan confirms Jarry will start tonight against the Blue Jackets.

• Sullivan said Phil Tomasino, who is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, skated for the first time on the injured ice this morning. 

• Sullivan on Puljujarvi, who could have a chance to return to the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 7: "I think when Jesse's at his best, he's a great puck pursuit guy. He uses his skating ability, his size, his physical stature and his reach to make it hard on defensemen to make plays. He disrupts breakouts, disrupts timing, creates opportunities for his linemates and goes to the net. I think that's when he's at his very best. When he does that, he's an effective player for us." 

• Puljujarvi on a week that included him clearing waivers and remaining out of the lineup since: "You don't know where you're going the next day or what happens, but I try to be a good person and a good player. I try to do my best off ice and on ice." 

• Elvis Merzlikins will start for Columbus, per team reporter Jeff Svoboda.