Pens get day off after loss

PITTSBURGH — Evgeni Malkin could have talked with friends, enjoyed a dinner out, played video games or watched television. Whatever he did Friday, it wasn’t at the hockey rink.

While the Flyers practiced at their suburban Philadelphia rink for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, Malkin, Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins enjoyed a day off. If there was any hockey for them, it was on Xbox or PlayStation 3.

Coach Michel Therrien gives his players time off whenever there’s a two-day gap between postseason games and, with the Penguins owning an 11-2 record in the playoffs, he didn’t break with that precedent. Not even with Malkin and Crosby coming off perhaps their least-effective game so far, the Flyers’ 4-2 victory in Game 4 in Philadelphia Thursday night.

Read more in Saturday’s Vindicator and vindy.com.