CALGARY, Alberta -- There's a pretty good chance that the Penguins will get one of their top forwards back when they face the Flames Tuesday evening at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
And the very real possibility that they'll be missing another one.
Evgeni Malkin, who missed the previous two games because of illness, participated in a 45-minute practice Monday afternoon with no apparently difficulty. And while he said he is not 100 percent recovered and stopped short of saying that he will be in the lineup against Calgary, Malkin seemed cautiously optimistic about his chances of playing.
"There's a good chance," he said. "It's not 100 percent, but I'll try. We have so many injured guys. ... We'll see tomorrow."
That's when the Penguins expect to find out about the availability of top-six winger Bryan Rust, who was held out of the workout because of an unspecified illness.
Malkin skated between Jake Guentzel and Dominik Simon on the top line at practice, and worked with the No. 1 power-play unit.
"It's good to have him back, obviously," Guentzel said.
Malkin said "the last three days were not fun, but I feel better every day. More energy."
He added that his symptoms have primarily involved his nose and throat.
"My voice is different right now," he said. "The last three days, I just laid down on my back in bed. Just drink every day. So much water. ... I couldn't do anything. No power, no energy. But today is better. So much better."
While the Penguins' forward combinations for the Calgary game will be determined, at least in part, by medical issues, their defense pairings apparently will not change. There could be a significant move on the top group, though, as John Marino and Kris Letang switched sides, with Marino moving to the left.
"We're trying to figure out who best fits in that spot, given the righties we have in our lineup," Sullivan said. "We like that pair, so we thought we'd try this to see if it's more effective."
Marino said that he got work on the left side while at Harvard, and that "not much" changes when he's used there.
Actually, there are some challenges that go with playing on the off-side, like holding the puck in on your backhand when it is shot around the boards, but Letang also downplayed them.
"I end up a lot on my left side," he said. "It doesn't really matter."
Also today:
• Sullivan said he believes Letang should have won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman for the 2015-16 season. "He was a dominant defenseman," he said. "I don't think, in my opinion, there was a better defenseman in the game that particular year. ... I don't think he gets the credit he deserves."
• Matt Murray, whose workload has been greatly reduced since Tristan Jarry has taken over as the Penguins' go-to goalie, on the challenges trying to stay sharp: "I'm just thinking about trying to get a little bit better each and every time I go out there for practice." Sullivan has not announced who will start against Calgary.
• Here are the personnel combinations the Penguins used at practice:
Jake Guentzel -- Evgeni Malkin -- Dominik Simon
Zach Aston-Reese -- Jared McCann -- Dominik Kahun
Alex Galchenyuk -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Joseph Blandisi -- Sam Lafferty -- Stefan Noesen
John Marino -- Kris Letang
Jack Johnson -- Justin Schultz
Marcus Pettersson -- Chad Ruhwedel
Juuso Riikola -- (Sergei Gonchar)
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