Malkin gets legs back, and his smile followed
Why the long face? That question arose nearly every night watching Evgeni Malkin earlier this season. Every time the camera found Malkin on the bench, he looked like a kid whose parents had forgotten his birthday.
Penguins analyst Bob Errey went crazy one night when he spotted Malkin smiling, maybe because it was like spotting a UFO. It might have been the only time he smiled all of January — and that is not the Evgeni Malkin you have come to know and love over these past 15 years.
Has he endured bouts of frustration? Clearly, yes, and for everyone to see. You don’t often have to guess what the man affectionately known as “Geno” is feeling.
Have some seasons been more enjoyable than others? Of course. The 2018-19 campaign wasn’t exactly Malkin’s Mardi Gras. That was obvious.
But if the 34-year-old Russian ever looked as lost as he did — or as slow as he did — in January and part of February, I missed it.
Those were, in fact, two of the worst five months of Malkin’s career from a production standpoint. He put up a paltry four points in nine games (0.44 points per game) in January. Never before, in any month with at least eight games, had he averaged less than half a point per game. He followed that with the fifth-worst month of his career (0.73 ppg), before finally beginning to look like himself as February progressed.
The whole episode evoked Sidney Crosby’s inexplicable funk in 2015, just before Mike Sullivan arrived. It was a slide the likes of which Crosby had never endured before and has not endured since.
Naturally, and not unreasonably, speculation grew as Malkin’s misery lingered: What in the world is wrong with Geno?
Something away from the ice? Something team-related? Was he missing close friend Sergei Gonchar, who was fired after last season?
Had he suddenly lost it, the way some athletes do when they hit their mid-30s? That theory did not seem plausible, not after a brilliant season in which Malkin finished seventh in the NHL in points per game. He’s 34, not 44.
Looking back, the most plausible explanation might be that he was simply out of shape. He didn’t have the legs, and like the great Herb Brooks used to say: “The legs feed the wolf.” That’s not a problem that goes away in a week (hence the long face?).
Earlier this season, in a ZOOM session
with reporters, Malkin mentioned that he did not have his usual offseason because of the pandemic and maybe didn’t try hard enough to find open gyms at home in Russia. It showed. As February progressed, however, you could see the legs returning. The smile soon followed. So did the points. Malkin has nine of them in six games in March, with at least one in each game, and the Penguins are 5-1.
The backdrop here is Malkin’s contract situation. He has one year left on his current deal. If he keeps playing like this, the Penguins’ new braintrust of Ron Hextall and Brian Burke will feel a lot better about the idea of extending him.
Did you happen to see Malkin’s ZOOM call Thursday after the 5-2 victory over the
Buffalo Sabres? He looked 10 years younger in his Penguins ballcap and was clearly feeling like himself again. Which is to say, lighthearted, thoughtful and witty.
What might the Penguins be missing to become a Cup team?
“Maybe Mario Lemieux?” Malkin said. How does he get along with new linemate Kasperi Kapanen (who has helped fuel Malkin’s surge)?
“I don’t know. He speaks Finland. I don’t understand. No, I mean, we try to be nice together. … Maybe I’m too old for him, but I try to [be] with him and play cards, and play video games, too, in the hotel. But, yeah, he’s a good guy. He’s really funny.”
Malkin referred to goalie Tristan Jarry as “right now the best player on the team” and praised coach Mike Sullivan on the night of his 300th win, predicting “more wins for him.”
Maybe soon, now that the big guy’s back.