Malkin maturity shows
but he has nine goals in the same amount of time when Malkin has 24. Kucherov has 17 fewer points.
Ovechkin and Laine are incredible scorers. At this point, Malkin might surpass them. Even if he doesn’t, they’re wingers who’ve combined for 55 assists — only seven more than Malkin.
Carl Hagelin’s resurgence has been tied to Malkin’s success. Ditto for Bryan Rust resuscitating his season after a slow start. The Penguins could set the franchise record for power-play prowess, and Malkin has a teamhigh 13 power-play goals.
“I’m ready every game,” Malkin said. “I try to help the team to win. I do my best.”
• The run to the Rocket and the Art Ross could have a Russian flavor with Kucherov, Malkin and Ovechkin all in the mix, but Malkin said he’s not too worried about that, either. It’s more about the challenge, the pursuit, being in that conversation once again, and also focusing on winning games.
“I’m excited. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in this situation,” Malkin said. “It’s more fun. It’s hard to win. Kucherov, Ovechkin, Laine … they’re amazing players. If we win every game, I will be a little bit lucky. But why not?”
• A few more numbers before adding some context to Malkin’s success:
Malkin has been the league’s most productive player since Jan. 1. He’s also riding a six-game point streak (3-8—11) and passed Pavel Datsyuk on Sunday for fifth place among Russian-born NHL players with 919 career points. Maybe the most ridiculous part of this is the consistency. Malkin has at least one point in 25 of 29 games, multiple points in 16 of 29 and three or more points in nine of 29.
• Where has all of this come from? One, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has talked about putting Malkin with two “workers” and asking him to shoot a little more. Assistant general manager Bill Guerin brought up something else while discussing Malkin’s game and comparing it to what he did in 2009.
“Geno has come a long way as a leader,” Guerin said. “I think Geno is always going to be himself. He’s going to march to the beat of his own drum. I think when it comes down to it, he knows exactly what he has to do and what he’s responsible for.”
This manifests itself in dressing-room stuff but also on the ice.
• An example of this occurred midway through the first period of Sunday’s game.
Malkin came all the way to behind his own goal line to force a turnover and start the rush the other way. One of the last things he did was deliver a hit on Wampum native Stephen Johns.
“Just overall responsibility-wise, you see how he’s played during the playoffs the past couple of years; he knows when to make certain plays,” Guerin said. “I think Geno, naturally, is always going to have a bit of risktaking in his game. That’s who he is. That’s how good he is. That’s why he’s been able to be as good as he is.
“We’d never want him to totally lose that, but I think when you look back at it … when a guy like him gets married, he has a child or something like that, it all helps in the maturation process. He’s no different.”
• Assistant coach Sergei Gonchar and Malkin are tremendously close. You know that. Gonchar agreed on the wife/son element with Malkin and alluded the departure of guys such as Chris Kunitz, Marc-Andre Fleury, James Neal and Pascal Dupuis — former teammates who were part of the Penguins fabric for many years. Even Matt Cullen and other key parts of the past two Cup runs.
“Being a family man is one thing,” Gonchar said. “It gives you another level of maturity. But also with some of the older guys gone, he probably has more responsibility leadershipwise. That’s something else that brings his game to another level. Those two things give him that extra push.”
• Is this the best Gonchar has ever seen Malkin play? “In a while, for sure,” Gonchar said. “The best I’ve ever seen him was the playoffs in 2009. The way he’s playing right now is very close.”
• Malkin has been tremendous this season, but so has Gonchar. How great of a find was Jamie Oleksiak?
Game-winning goal Sunday. Has four goals and 10 points in 35 games with the Penguins after producing just one goal and three points in 21 with the Stars.
Working with Gonchar has been huge for Oleksiak. “He’s a guy who’s on the team, but he’s not working the bench,” Oleksiak said. “It’s kind of nice to have that other perspective. Obviously he’s a guy who’s been there and done it all. He’s not afraid to tell you that you need to work on things. Definitely fortunate to have a guy like that out there.”
• If there was an assistant coach of the year award, Gonchar might get it. You have Oleksiak, Justin Schultz, Trevor Daley, Chad Ruhwedel and even Ian Cole. Gonchar made them all better, likely in addition to probably a bunch more.
“Obviously it makes me happy,” Gonchar said of the idea that he’s some sort of defensive wizard. “I’m happy when the guys are improving themselves and start feeling better, start playing better hockey. It’s really fun for me.
“If you think about it, the guy was maybe on another team, he wasn’t sure of himself. He was doubting whether he can be in the league. Then he comes here and starts playing better and better. It makes him feel comfortable. He’s getting his confidence back. They become NHLers again. They’re doing well. It makes me happy.”