SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It was a red-letter day, a red-jersey day and a day Evgeni Malkin was more than ready for.

The Penguins' All-Star center was not in the lineup for the game against the San Jose Sharks late last night, but he took a step toward coming back from a strained right shoulder by getting on the ice at HP Pavilion in the morning.

"I think I'm close," Malkin said of returning to the lineup. He missed his fifth game since coach Dan Bylsma predicted 10 days ago he would be out "a couple weeks."

"I hope I'm close to [being where] my shoulder is not sore, and it's a little bit stronger, and I hope to come back soon," Malkin said. "I'm skating, and my legs feel great."

He said the rigors of hard skating did not make his shoulder sore.

Before skating yesterday, Malkin had been working out daily off the ice with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar. Sitting out has been an exercise in frustration.

"I think he's been itching to step onto the ice in a couple different ways, but we want to make sure we're progressing and make sure we're doing the right things and the right steps," Bylsma said. "This is the date we said 'Geno' would be getting on the ice."

Malkin missed the first four games of his rookie season, 2006-07, because of a left shoulder injury he got during a preseason game. After that, he played in 254 consecutive regular-season games. His streak was 303 if you include playoffs.

"It's very tough for me," Malkin said of missing games, "but it's the game of hockey. I played three years with no injuries. That's good. But just a couple games more and I hope to come back.

"When you have an injury, it's tough because you work every day. It's tough because I like to play games."

He laughed. "The games are a little bit easier" than the off-ice workouts with Kadar, he said.

Malkin, donning a red jersey signifying he is not allowed to have contact, came onto the ice with about 15 minutes left during the Penguins' skate. He got a warm reception from his teammates, but he did not participate in any drills, instead doing some light stick-handling on his own.

After the healthy players headed for the locker room, Bylsma stayed behind to join and direct the red brigade -- red-jerseyed injured players Malkin, defenseman Sergei Gonchar (wrist) and forward Max Talbot (shoulder) for some hard lap work.

Malkin had been playing despite the shoulder problem and was a little reluctant to take time off, but the team convinced him he needed to rest it. He said he has been watching games from the team's dressing room, sometimes doing some light riding on a stationary bike while he watches.

"You're not playing. You're a little bit nervous," he said. "But the team is playing very well."

With a minor infraction here, a fighting major there, Penguins center and captain Sidney Crosby went into the game last night as the surprising team leader in penalty minutes. He had 29, followed by linemate Chris Kunitz (25), rugged forward Mike Rupp (24) and defenseman Jay McKee (23).

"I've probably been guilty of getting a few slashes or tripping, things like that, things that just come from battling for the puck," Crosby said. "It's not something that I'm looking for. It just kind of worked out that way to start."

Friday night, defenseman Deryk Engelland headed for the home locker room with his Wilkes-Barre/Scranton teammates after a 2-1 loss to Norfolk. Then, he got a message that scrambled his next 24 hours. Instead of going to Worchester for a game last night, he was called up by the NHL club, which was in San Jose. The Penguins were concerned because defenseman Alex Goligoski was under the weather Friday and iffy for the game last night against the Sharks. Engelland made it to San Jose in time to participate in the morning skate.

"It's been exciting, a long day," he said. "I had a game, drove to Philly, stayed in a hotel, got up and flew here. It was nice to get a skate."

He got only a few hours of sleep.

"The whole six-hour plane ride was long," he said. "A lot of thinking."

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