With Crosby out, Malkin steps up
Penguins star takes leadership reins with superstar sidelined by concussion
The Pittsburgh Penguins are so deep that they even have a backup superstar.
With his team leading the bestof-seven series 2-1, Sidney Crosby was ruled out of Wednesday’s Game 4 against the Washington Capitals after suffering a concussion Monday. Now, Evgeni Malkin becomes the Penguins’ leading man. The best player in the world is replaced by a player ranked in the top five.
There’s no need to feel sorry for the Penguins, because they don’t feel sorry for themselves. Overcoming injuries is part of Penguins tradition, dating to when Mario Lemieux’s back would be so sore that he would need the equipment manager to lace up his skates to play in playoff games.
The Penguins have been overrun by injuries this season, starting with Crosby missing the first six games with a concussion.
No. 1 defenseman Kris Letang is out for the year. Marc-Andre Fleury is playing in net only because Matt Murray was injured warming up for the first game of the postseason.
“It seems like certain players will step up at given times to make big plays that help this team find ways to win games,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “This is just one more challenge our team will face.”
The challenge of Crosby’s injury is made greater by the fact that the Capitals are coming off their best performance of the series. Braden Holtby looked more solid in goal, and the Caps seemed to remember what it was that made them the best team during the regular season.
“We are still down 2-1 in the series,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. “We have to have our best game to this point. We’re going to have to raise it to another level.”
Crosby is irreplaceable, but Malkin happens to lead all playoff scorers with 15 points in eight games.
“He’s been a very good player for us throughout the course of these playoffs, and we’re going to rely on him that much more,” Sullivan said. “And we believe he’ll get the job done for us.”
Malkin historically has raised his level of play when Crosby has been absent from the lineup. In Game 3, he spearheaded a late comeback that forced overtime, where the Capitals got a goal from Kevin Shattenkirk to stay competitive in the series.
In the 118 games Malkin has played without Crosby, he has 66 goals and 88 assists for 154 points. That 1.31 points-per-game average is above his career mark of 1.18 points per game.
“He does things with the puck like no one else,” Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist said. “He looks like he’s playing loose.”
When Crosby has missed games during his career, the Penguins are 97-52-19 in the regular season and 4-4 in the playoffs.
“We’ve been through this all season with injuries,” Hornqvist said. “We need other guys to step up, but we’ve been doing that the whole year.”
Sullivan said the “burden of responsibility” shouldn’t solely be on Malkin.
“It’s a collaborative effort,” Sullivan said. “That’s the essence of our team. But (Malkin) is going to have to bring his very best game to help us win. (Phil Kessel) is the same way, and then it goes down the bench. That’s the way we look at it.”