Smith knows Malkin ‘can make you pay’
Nobody combines size, speed, strength and skill quite like Evgeni Malkin.
Zack Smith was reminded of this in Game 6.
During the second period on a night he led all Senators forwards in ice time, Smith found himself in a heavy battle along the end boards with Malkin. Everyone thought he had the Penguins centre under wraps.
“So did I,” said Smith. “For a second. Then I made a mistake. I stuck to the outside and he spun on me.”
Malkin wound up face to face with goalie Craig Anderson, who stopped the initial shot, but couldn’t keep the big Russian from taking the rebound around him and tucking the puck in the net.
“That was my mistake,” said Smith. “As soon as I tried to strip him on the outside, as soon as I did that, I knew it was the wrong move.
“He’s probably their best player right now. He protects pucks so well, you just have to stay between him and the net at all times. You can’t (rush) the puck like I tried to do on that one. He’ll make you pay for it.”
If the forward matchups remain the same in Game 7 — and there’s a strong case to be made on both sides why they would — Jean-Gabriel Pageau will see a lot of Sidney Crosby, while Smith with get plenty of face time with Malkin.
Together the Penguins stars combined for 13 shots, but just the one goal.
“I did my best, but I feel I can do more,” Malkin, who had seven shots, said after the game. “I think I could have scored two or three goals tonight. It’s a little bit frustrating for me. So many chances.”
Smith and his teammates will try to keep as many of those chances as possible to the outside.
“In the second period, they were zipping the puck. That’s their style of game,” said Smith.
“In different parts of games, they’ve very much controlled the pace for maybe five, 10 minutes at a time. (In Game 5), they controlled the pace for 60 minutes. You’ve just got to weather the storm. We’ve got Andy back there and we’ve got to stick with it.”