Russian Supernova
Malkin burns red hot in Crosby's absence
By Bob Grove

When the injured Sidney Crosby left the Penguins' lineup in late January, the attention of the National Hockey League turned quickly to 21-year-old Evgeni Malkin, whose challenge, while simply stated, was truly daunting.

Play the game at a higher level.

Score more often despite a significant increase in defensive pressure.

Make the power play go.

No one expected him to assume Crosby's mantle as the NHL scoring leader, given that he was 14th in scoring at the time. But one month later that's precisely what Malkin did, picking up two assists in a 3-2 home victory over Florida that pushed him past Washington's Alexander Ovechkin and ahead in the race to become the first Russian-born player to win the Art Ross Trophy.

"I never had a stretch like that over here in the NHL or back when I played in Russia," Malkin said, through an interpreter, after recording 27 points in Pittsburgh's first 14 games without its captain. "Ovechkin is a good player. He will try to prove he's the best in the NHL. We'll see what will happen."

With just 19 games to play in the regular season, Malkin and Ovechkin were tied with 82 points and poised for a truly historic stretch run. But Malkin also made it clear that winning games was his primary focus, and the Penguins were doing surprisingly well there, too.

Pittsburgh gained points in all but four of its first 17 games without Crosby, and while goaltender Ty Conklin had a lot to do with it, Malkin's quick adjustment to his new responsibilities was the biggest reason why the Penguins were two points away from the Eastern Conference lead when they acquired Marian Hossa, Pascal Dupuis and Hal Gill at the NHL's trade deadline on Feb. 26.

All told, Malkin's emergence as a force night in and night out puts the Penguins in an enviable position for this month's stretch run, which will also see Crosby rejoin his teammates.

"He's hungry," former teammate Colby Armstrong said of Malkin before Armstrong was traded to Atlanta. "You can see that in him out there. No matter who has the puck, he's taking it from them. I mean, it's crazy to watch. He's tall, but he looks kind of skinny. Still, he gets in there, powers off guys, keeps those legs going. You can see he's hungry to step up, be a leader and make a difference."

Of all the things Malkin was doing in Crosby's absence, nothing stood out more than his determination to shoot the puck. Like many of his teammates, Malkin had often passed up good scoring chances to make passes instead, but with Crosby out that all began to change.

"Since his status has kind of been elevated with Sid out, he's showcasing his array of skills," said defenseman Rob Scuderi. "He has a real, real heavy shot, and he's got a quick release, so it's no surprise that he's scored more goals than anybody in here. He's a top talent in the NHL, and he's just showing it now."

Malkin has been demonstrating his finishing skills since he entered the league last season, delivering a goal in each of his first six games. But he recently went eight straight games with four or more shots, and that included a stretch of five consecutive games with a goal.

The Penguins' first-round pick in 2004 is that rare forward who has the speed and one-on-one moves to create open ice but also the ability to score while playing in traffic.

"He's always in a shooting position, no matter what," says Armstrong. "He'll barrel through two guys and still unleash a rocket. I don't know how he does it. He's got a great shot, and he just knows where to put the puck. He'll be on one leg, off-balance, and he'll still put it in the spot he wants to."

But there's even more to Malkin's offensive arsenal. His slap shot and one-timers are absolute bullets, and around that the Penguins built their power play in Crosby's absence.

Pittsburgh assistant coach Mike Yeo, who runs the power play, put Malkin in Crosby's spot in the right circle, although most often a little more toward the top of the circle. There, Malkin and countryman Sergei Gonchar, who plays the right/center point, worked one-timers to each other, and setting up Malkin for one-timers became the main option in a Pittsburgh power play that reeled off goals in 12 straight games and surged to No. 3 in the NHL.

"As a defenseman, if I'm blocking a shot, there are some guys whose shots are fast and kind of quick, but some guys, they hit you in the shinguards and you feel it for a couple of days," says Scuderi, referring to what hockey players call a heavy shot. "It just carries a lot of weight behind it. He's certainly one of those guys. You can tell when it hits the boards; you hear it hit the boards behind the net, and you know which guy it was.

"Obviously, his confidence is sky high and he's playing fantastic, and he should be shooting the puck. He's just playing unbelievable."

Said Petr Sykora, who was playing on Malkin's right wing at even strength and also joining him on the power play, "He's got a bomb."

Malkin's offensive tear also energized Sykora and Ryan Malone, who was playing the left wing on that line. Sykora, who played with Malkin at Magnitogorsk during the NHL lockout, had 24 points over a 21-game span, while Malone had 20 points over 15 games.

While Malkin did everything expected of him from an offensive standpoint, he also completed assignments without the puck, routinely becoming one of the first forwards back to help clean up the Pittsburgh zone. Outside of his inability to win draws, Malkin was playing such a complete game that reporters joked with coach Michel Therrien that perhaps someone should have hid the visas of Malkin's parents, who were in town to witness most of his remarkable stretch.

"He's been great defensively for us, too," says teammate Jordan Staal. "He's playing the system well, and that really helps our team."

It was Malkin's trip to the top of the scoring race, however, that captured the imagination of Pittsburgh hockey fans - and reminded them how fortunate they've been to see first-hand some of the game's greatest scorers. Should Malkin win the scoring title, the Penguins will be the only team in the last 51 years to produce four different champions: Malkin, Crosby, Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux.

To put that in perspective, consider this: the league's Original Six franchises haven't produced a single Ross Trophy winner since Montreal's Guy Lafleur won the scoring title in 1978. Neither Toronto nor the New York Rangers have had a scoring champion since before the end of World War II, and it's been 45 years for Detroit, 40 years for Chicago and 33 years for Boston.

The next challenge for Malkin will be to maintain his high level of play when Crosby returns, and Therrien is expected to facilitate that by leaving Malkin at his natural center position; he was playing on Crosby's wing when Crosby was injured.

After that, Malkin will also be expected to improve upon his playoff performance of last season. After his tumultuous arrival in North America and a busy rookie season, Malkin seemed to run out of gas down the stretch last spring and didn't register a goal in the Penguins' first-round loss to Ottawa.

In other words, all Malkin has to do is put his game in another gear.

After watching his performance over the last six weeks, is there anyone who believes he can't?