"With another critical round of injury news the Penguins have reached a tipping point: They face additional weeks of finding fill-ins for some of their best playerswhile trying to deliver on veteran defenseman Brooks Orpik's challenge that they intensify their drive to win.

Sunday, as the club clung to eighth place -- the final playoff spot -- in the Eastern Conference, coach Dan Bylsma announced the latest injury news:

• Jordan Staal's left knee injury, incurred Friday in a collision with Mike Rupp of the Rangers, will keep him out four to six weeks. It's medial collateral ligament damage, not a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and won't require surgery, so it's not as bad as it could have been. But the adept two-way center and top penalty-killer was having a great season, with 15 goals and 21 points in 34 games.

• Top-line right winger James Neal's foot was broken in the third period of Saturday's 3-1 loss to New Jersey when he blocked a shot by the Devils' Henrik Tallinder. "In the next few days we'll see what that timetable looks like, but it's weeks, not days," Bylsma said. Neal was leading the team with 21 goals and the NHL with 10 power-play goals."