WASHINGTON (AP) The sight of Evgeni Malkin on the ice brought a smile to many in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ locker room.Even knowing they wouldn’t have him in the lineup for Game 1 of their second-round series against the Washington Capitals on Thursday night Womens Kyle Palmieri Jersey , the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions could glean some optimism that the skilled Russian center won’t be out long with his apparent leg injury.”It’s always nice to see a guy like him out there,” winger Bryan Rust said Thursday after an optional morning skate.”He’s a guy who’s obviously really important to our team and brings so much. Just to see him out there and see him getting closer is nice.”Coach Mike Sullivan said Malkin skating ”means he’s that much closer” to playing, even if the 31-year-old was wearing a white no-contact jersey. Malkin traveling with the team to Washington plus the progress he appears to be making could put him in line to return as soon as Game 2 Sunday afternoon.”It’s great for our team, great for Geno that he’s on the ice and skating,” Sullivan said. ”He’s a big part of this team. He’s a difference-maker and not an easy guy to replace.”Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia in Game 6 without Malkin, who was injured in Game 5 on April 20 and hadn’t practiced since. Absent the 2009 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP, the Penguins rely more heavily on superstar Sidney Crosby and fellow centers Derick Brassard http://www.officialbluejackets.com/authentic-adidas-david-savard-jersey , Riley Sheahan and Tom Kuhnhackl.”We have the depth on our roster,” Kuhnhackl said. ”We’ve showed that before. At the end, it doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup and who’s out. Everyone’s capable of playing the right way.”Few in the NHL can play like Malkin, who has three goals and two assists in five playoff games so far. General manager Jim Rutherford acquiring Brassard at the trade deadline certainly helps Pittsburgh’s depth down the middle, but it takes more than one or two players to fill the void without Malkin.”One of the best players in the world, almost 100 points this year,” Brassard said. ”You can’t really replace a guy who scored 40 goals Anthony Mantha Jersey , but I think as a team we can do a better job and are trying to do a better job.”— WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) Tyler Myers could sense his Winnipeg Jets teammates struggling to fight after getting down by two goals to the Washington Capitals.Then came the pushback: Bryan Little scored to make it a one-goal game midway through the third period and Mark Scheifele supplied his second of the night with 15 seconds left to send it into overtime.Myers fired the final shot, with the veteran defenseman taking a backhand pass from Scheifele and putting the puck over Braden Holtby’s glove 3:35 into overtime for the 4-3 victory Tuesday night.”We had moments where we didn’t have much life on the bench, but we managed to flip that switch, get it back going again and I thought it was a great team win,” said Myers, who scored his sixth goal of the season.Scheifele’s 17th goal with 15 seconds left was scored short-handed and through traffic. Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien had been called for slashing Jay Beagle with 1:17 left.”It just shows that we battled so hard Darren Helm Jersey ,” Scheifele said. ”We battled right to the end. That was top to bottom, first line to fourth line. It was an awesome feeling.”Bryan Little scored his 12th for Winnipeg (33-15-9). Byfuglien added two assists.Connor Hellebuyck stopped 24 shots for the Jets, who were playing the seventh of a 10-game homestand. Niklas Backstrom, Andre Burakovsky and John Carlson scored for the Capitals (32-17-7), who still extended their point streak to four games (2-0-2).Holtby made 40 saves and became the second goalie in franchise history to play 20,000 minutes. Olaf Kolzig played 41,260 minutes.”They created their chances but it shouldn’t matter http://www.officialredwings.com/authentic-adidas-dylan-larkin-jersey ,” Holtby said. ”A 3-1 lead and a goal lead with 1:17 on the power play, doesn’t matter what happened in the game before that. I know we had a couple opportunities to put it into the empty net. Just move it around on the power play killing time. We just got a little arrogant, in a way, and tried to make fancy plays. It burned us. We deserved that.”Byfuglien set up the game’s first goal when he spun around Burakovsky in Washington’s end and sent the puck toward the net. Scheifele poked it in after it bounced off Holtby’s pad at 14:41.Backstrom tied it up with 23 seconds left in the period off a rebound from an Alex Ovechkin shot.Burakovsky made up for being outplayed by Byfuglien when he scored the go-ahead goat at 11:22 of the second off a sharp-angled rebound of a Lars Eller shot.Carlson scored his 10th goal of the season at 7:01 of the third. Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up an assist, extending his team-high point streak to eight games with two goals and nine assists. Little closed the gap at 11:30.”It’s a hard lesson to learn,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. ”I thought in this building, this is a pretty hostile building. For 54 minutes we played a really good road game.”NOTES: Jets center Matt Hendricks left the game in the second after he was crushed to the ice by a check from Washington defenseman Frans Nielsen Jersey Kids , and Winnipeg native, Madison Bowey. …UP NEXT:Capitals: play Minnesota on ThursdayJets: host Colorado on Friday.