A THOUSAND THANKS
Evgeni Malkin, holding his son, Nikita, acknowledges the PPG Paints Arena crowd Saturday during a pregame tribute that celebrated the 1,000th point of his career. He notched No. 1,000 Tuesday night with an assist on a Phil Kessel goal in the third period of a 5-3 victory against Washington. At left is team owner Mario Lemieux.
As a tribute video featuring some of his greatest highlights and favorite hockey memories beamed from the Jumbotron at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday, Evgeni Malkin clutched his young son, Nikita, and stood on the ice next to his wife, parents and Penguins owner Mario Lemieux.
While Malkin watched that video the Penguins put together to honor him for reaching 1,000 points on Tuesday, his mind drifted to the day he arrived in Pittsburgh in the summer of 2006.
“It’s amazing. I’ve played here for 13 years,” Malkin said after Saturday’s loss to the St. Louis Blues. “I remember my first day I reported, I go to Mario’s house and we meet each other and Sidney Crosby was here, too. The whole time, we’re like great friends and we’re together. It’s like a big family here.
“Mario stepped on the ice and said, ‘Congrats, Geno.’ It’s nice, not just for me, but my father.”
Why his father in particular? Malkin explained that Vladimir once admired Lemieux from afar.
“He’s told me he watched when Mario played and he always said he was his choice for best player in the world, like he’s better than [Wayne] Gretzky,” he said. “So it was amazing for my family, too.”
The Penguins put together a nice ceremony to celebrate Malkin’s milestone before the game.
Malkin’s parents, Vladimir and Natalia, and his wife, Anna, walked out onto a black carpet, along with Lemieux. Malkin, in full uniform, skated over from the bench and scooped up Nikita. Malkin grew emotional watching the tribute video, with three generations of Malkins in the house.
Injured defenseman Kris Letang, who wasn’t quite ready to play Saturday, also joined them on the black carpet. Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel skated over to present the center with a silverplated stick and a plaque made from pieces of the old Civic Arena, the first NHL arena Malkin called home.
Malkin was touched by the ceremony and said he will cherish his son’s being there to witness it.
“When the crowd started cheering, I feel like he was a little bit scared, like he not understand much,” he said. “But we have video. We have pictures. It’s crazy. When he’s grown up, we’ll show him.”
With two assists in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over countryman Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, Malkin became the 88th player in NHL history and fifth from Russia to record 1,000 points in his career.
Injury updates
Kris Letang and Bryan Rust didn’t play Saturday.
Those two Penguins on Friday practiced without limitations for the first time since suffering their respective injuries. Letang is working his way back from the upper-body injury he suffered in Philadelphia on Feb. 23. Rust suffered a lowerbody injury in Columbus three days after that.
After Friday’s practice, coach Mike Sullivan didn’t rule out the possibility of one or both of those players returning to the lineup this weekend. The Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. Even if they aren’t yet available for that game, their returns appear to be imminent.
Sullivan provided an update on Olli Maatta before Saturday’s game at PPG Paints Arena. Maatta has been out since Feb. 11 due to a separated shoulder, also suffered against the Flyers. He has skated in individual workouts the last two weeks but has yet to practice with the team.
“He’s progressing really well,” Sullivan said. “At some point we’ll get him involved with the team skate.”
Off day for top line
Not only was the Crosby line, one of the NHL’s hottest entering Saturday, unable to get on the board against Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, the trio of Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Jared McCann had a poor game defensively. Those three were all on the ice for the first three goals the Blues scored in Saturday’s loss.
“Two of them I thought were avoidable,” Sullivan said. “That line has been great for us. They’re three guys who have played so well for us. We’ve got to do a better job on two of them, making sure that we come back and we don’t get beat back up the ice and we defend the scoring area.”