So here I was last week watching Wednesday night’s matchup between Pittsburgh and Tampa, a blowout that began with Evgeni Malkin scoring a neck-snapping goal seven seconds into the game.
In the third period three Penguins players happened to be in the penalty box simultaneously, and for a second I thought former head coach Michel Therrien was behind the bench at the time.
Why? Because Evgeni Malkin was penalty killing.
Now some may write this instance off as a necessity, having to use a star player more noted for his offensive prowess rather than any grinder the Penguins seem to have a plethora of.
It seems to me that many have forgotten or perhaps never even knew that Malkin was considered among the elite of the elite two-way forwards in the game.
Let us rewind back to before Geno was in the NHL.
Many scouts were of the opinion that Malkin could easily be ranked as the No. 2 two-way forward in Russia, not simply among players playing in Russia at the time but among all Russian players worldwide. I recall reading on ...
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Article written by Kevin Miller