Evgeni Malkin has not played in a game since Oct. 28, so he might need a little time to regain his rhythm when he rejoins the Penguins' lineup tonight.

Malkin seems to understand that, and even has a pretty good idea of how long it will take for him to shake off whatever rust has accumulated on his game during the past few weeks.

Precisely as long as it will take him to skate from the bench to wherever the first faceoff involving him is being held.

"If I play [tonight], I'll play my first shift and be 100 percent," Malkin said. "I'm ready."

The Penguins are counting on it. They assigned forward Chris Conner to their farm team in Wilkes-Barre yesterday, meaning that Malkin is part of a 12-man complement of forwards coach Dan Bylsma will have at his disposal when Boston visits Mellon Arena tonight at 7:38.

And it's difficult to overstate Malkin's value to the Penguins. Despite sitting out more than a third of this season with a strained shoulder, Malkin remains their No. 2 scorer and logs an average of more than 20 1/2 minutes of ice time per game, second only to Sidney Crosby (21:35) among Penguins forwards.

"It's not only the points, the speed and how he plays with the puck," Bylsma said. "There's a work ethic there, and a guy who leads the league in takeaways, as well. There's a tenaciousness that he brings to the game that adds not just in the point totals."

Bylsma apparently plans to deploy Malkin on a line with Crosby and Ruslan Fedotenko this evening, at least early. That unit practiced together yesterday, and all concerned seemed happy with the combination.

"It's a good line; lots of scoring," Malkin said. "I like this line."

The Penguins' other lines had Jordan Staal between Chris Bourque and Bill Guerin, Craig Adams centering Matt Cooke and Pascal Dupuis and Mike Rupp with Max Talbot and Eric Godard.

Talbot is recovering from shoulder surgery and is not expected to play for about two more weeks, but Chris Kunitz was excused from practice because of a nagging injury and could be plugged into Talbot's spot. It's also possible that he'd be put with Staal and Guerin, with Bourque dropping down to the fourth line.

"[The personnel combinations] could look completely different [tonight] depending on the situations that could arise," Bylsma said.

Regardless of where Malkin plays in even-strength situations, it's a given that he'll assume a spot on the No. 1 power-play unit. The Penguins are 0 for 26 with the extra man in the past seven games, so adding Malkin to the mix hardly could be a negative.

Fact is, Crosby believes that Malkin's biggest early impact could come when the Penguins have a man-advantage.

"I think the power play is something that probably comes a little easier, even when you first come back," he said. "I think that's something [where], right away, he should be able to feel pretty comfortable."

Regardless of where or how he does it, the Penguins will be looking to Malkin to spark their offense. They have scored just one goal in the past three games, lost four in a row and dropped to 12-7.

"He's a great player and gives us extra punch, extra force," Fedotenko said. "He makes the players around him better and creates more opportunities offensively."

Bylsma seems optimistic Malkin will be able to resume doing that nearly immediately, in part because his physical condition is better than it has been for a while.

"He was sore for a number of games prior to making the decision to get some rest and eliminate the pain from his game," Bylsma said. "He's still been able to skate and work out pretty well, so I expect him to have a lot of jump and feel better than he did when he stopped playing."

Malkin is not the only impact player to leave the Penguins' lineup lately. They've been trying to get by without Talbot and forward Tyler Kennedy and defensemen Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang and Brooks Orpik.

"It seems like we've been losing a lot of players," Fedotenko said. "Key players. That's not an excuse for how we've been playing, but it's definitely nice to see somebody coming back, not going out."

Malkin agrees, and his eagerness to get back in uniform was evident at a post-practice session with reporters yesterday.

"I'm so excited," Malkin said. "I feel awesome."

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