Malkin stepped up when Crosby was absent
The fire alarm blared inside the visiting locker room at New Jersey’s Prudential Center two months ago, a fitting metaphor for the state of panic that permeated the Penguins fan base that day.
Just hours earlier, the Penguins announced that captain Sidney Crosby would require core muscle surgery to repair a sports hernia that had troubled him since training camp. A team that already had endured numerous injuries was about to take its biggest hit to date.
This is not a drill, folks! I repeat: This is not a drill! But as the alarm sounded, there was Evgeni Malkin with quick wit and a smile.
“I will be fire,” he joked. Actually, maybe he wasn’t joking.
Malkin admitted that day in
New Jersey “everyone is looking to me” to perform without Crosby. Well, the truth is, it was hard to take your eyes off of Malkin and the highlight-reel plays he produced in the weeks that followed.
With Crosby healthy again, it’s time to step back and look at what we were watching. In the 26 games that he played without Crosby, Malkin scored 38 points (11 goals, 27 assists). Not only did he help keep the train
rolling with Crosby out, Malkin was the diesel-guzzling engine powering those wheels into overdrive, helping the Penguins surge ahead in the standings thanks to the best December in the NHL.
At 33 years old, Malkin proved that he remains one of the game’s most electrifying offensive players and playmakers. With a unique and diverse skill set, he can play a finesse game when he wants, a power game when he wants and a speed game when he wants.
But there’s more to it than that. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan noted on several occasions that Malkin’s performance went well beyond the points he was producing. His work away from the puck and his decision-making was perhaps even more impressive than his ability to put it in the back of the net, especially after last year when those elements of his game were lacking.
Malkin came to camp and declared, “I want to show everyone I’m not done.” In the past eight weeks alone, he has done exactly that.
“Geno has had a certain drive since Day 1 of training camp this year,” Sullivan said. “He’s really elevated his play through the course of the first part of the season when we’ve had to endure all these injuries. He’s a huge part of the wins that we’ve been able to accumulate to this point.”
Really, though, why is any of this a surprise? The success sans Sid is nothing new. In 146 career games without Crosby, Malkin scored 1.36 points per game, compared to about 1.15 with Crosby (prior to his most recent return). This season, Malkin was even better, producing 1.46 points per game over the past two months to become one of the best players on a point-per-game basis in the NHL.
When questions lingered around the team, Malkin was the answer. Now, there’s a new question: Does Crosby’s return throw cold sand on Malkin’s fire ... or gasoline?
This is a question that will have to be answered over the next 34 games and beyond into the postseason. But so far, in the three games with Crosby back, the results are promising.
Malkin nearly stole the show on what was supposed to be Crosby’s comeback party Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild. He scored two power-play goals. And his no-look, drop pass to Rust — a play Rust called “out of this world” — may have been the highlight of the entire Penguins’ season.
Then, after a game against Boston when nobody looked too good, Malkin was arguably the best player in an overtime win Friday night in Detroit. He was responsible for the primary assist on both goals. That includes the game-winner in overtime, when Malkin put the puck on Crosby’s tape in front of the net, just the right place for a redirection.
The power play, in particular, might have a new spark with Malkin and Crosby on the same ice. Malkin scored those power-play goals against Minnesota and Crosby earned secondary assists on both. Then Friday night, Malkin assisted on power-play goals, one to Rust and the winner to Crosby.
“Every time he comes to the rink, he’s excited to be at the rink,” Rust said. “He’s excited to be out there. You can see him do all the little things. Playing defensively. Playing offensively. Making all the little plays.
“I have no doubt he can keep that going.”
This season, Malkin and Crosby have played only a handful of games together. Malkin missed most of the first month, Crosby the next two. When they were apart, they individually were stabilizing forces keeping the team together.
Now, it’s time to see what they can do in 2020.
“Geno and Sid have the ability to be the best 1-2 punch in the game,” Sullivan said. He paused, correcting himself, “… or 1, 1A, I should say.”
Or, fire, he could say.