Being a linemate with Evgeni Malkin can be demanding. It requires one to play with a defensive conscience, to play with the requisite speed to keep up and the vision to see a play before it develops. But it also comes with certain fringe benefits.
Such as?
"When NHL Network is playing the top 100 goals of the season, I'll be in the highlight reel now," Zach Aston-Reese was telling me of his assist on Malkin's second goal Sunday afternoon.
No matter Malkin's well-documented struggles this most uncharacteristic season, there's always a chance, as Mike Sullivan was saying, that the superstar can "change the outcome of a game in a few shifts."
That's all it took for Malkin in the third period Sunday when he scored a pair of goals just 2:31 apart in the Penguins' much-needed 6-5 victory over the Rangers. The second of those goals was one of the best you'll ever see anywhere by anyone.
If you haven't seen it, here it is in all its glory:
Aston-Reese earned the primary assist by chipping the puck down the wall past a flat-footed Adam McQuaid and then fired a pass back to Malkin, who was trailing on the play, at the left circle. With future-former Ranger Kevin Hayes draped all over him, Malkin slammed on the brakes and made the perfect 360-degree pirouette, firing a 21-foot backhander that somehow beat Alexandar Georgiev to the glove side. Post and in. And somewhere Denis Savard was smiling.
"What can I say about it that you guys didn't already see?" mused Sullivan. "It's a goal-scorer's goal. There may be a handful of players in the league that can score that kind of goal. It was spectacular."
Oh, it was real and it was spectacular. Aston-Reese ventured that if he tried the same move a thousand times, he might pull it off once. Maybe.
Malkin has pulled off similar moves twice before in his illustrious career. The first came across Centre Avenue in Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Final:
The other came on Nov. 28, 2015 against the Oilers:
The difference then was that Malkin was the most dominant player on the planet in the spring of '09 and in '15 he was one of the driving forces on yet another Stanley Cup championship team.
This year? Not so much.
Malkin's two goals Sunday were just the ninth and 10th that he's scored at even-strength this season. For comparisons sake, his previous career-low was five in 31 games in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. Though the points have been there for Malkin this season — 61 points in 53 games (1.13 avg.) — he's still a team- and career-worst minus-19.
But coupled with his two power-play goals in Saturday's loss to the Flames, Malkin has his first goal-scoring "streak" since Nov. 21 and 23. Perhaps it was taking a foolish one-game suspension for a stick-swinging incident, but Malkin has since cobbled together his best two games in at least 40 games.
It bears repeating, the Penguins aren't going anywhere in the playoffs if their second-line center isn't resembling something close to his former self. That's if the Penguins make the playoffs. That's still to be determined. But Sunday's vintage performance offered the best hope that Malkin might, at long last, be emerging from his months-long slumber.
And that's because of that goal above.
Obviously, it takes a ton of talent but it also takes a heaping amount of, let's just say, guts.
"Exactly," Aston-Reese said in agreement.
Which of course, is another way of saying it takes confidence. More than anything, the thing that has been lacking in Malkin's game this season has been a belief in himself and his ability. Hard to believe coming from a two-time scoring champ and Hart Trophy winner, I know. But he said so himself in January in Arizona.
"He's a guy that tends to build confidence when he scores," Sullivan was saying. "I think that bodes well for us and for him. He's an elite player. It's hard to explain the impact that he can have on a game when he's at his best."
Phil Kessel was credited with the primary assist on Malkin's 17th goal of the season, shown here:
... and Aston-Reese with the primary helper on his 18th, but give a nod to Sullivan for his role in this.
It was at the start of the third period that the coach mixed up his lines, moving Aston-Reese up from the fourth line to the second-line left wing, and dropping Nick Bjugstad down to center the third line.
Sullivan said that he didn't feel that the line of Kessel, Malkin and Bjugstad was getting consistent offensive zone time. Indeed, that trio played 6:40 at 5v5 with a less-than-inspiring 37.50 Corsi For percentage, registering five shots for and nine against. So, Sullivan decided to go with what he called his "Plan B."
That was all made possible by the emergence of Aston-Reese, who, if he can stay healthy -- it has been an issue -- can be a serious difference-maker at both ends of the rink. It was not mere coincidence that the Penguins went 5-7-1 when Aston-Reese was out of the lineup Jan. 11 to Feb. 13 with a broken hand sustained in a fight.
"We think Zach's playing extremely well and he's getting better and better with each game that he's played here since he's come off his injury," Sullivan said. "And it ended up working for the line. Thought they had a real good third period."
The question is: Will this line of Aston-Reese, Malkin and Kessel continue to be a line? Hard to say.
It was just one period, after all. But, wow, was it encouraging. They played just 2:57 together at 5v5 but had a Corsi For percentage of 80.0 and had seven shot attempts for and -- get this -- none against, to go along with Malkin's two goals.
Clearly, Aston-Reese knows his role when he's partnered with offensive talents like Malkin and Kessel, who have a tendency to, well, stray from a 200-foot game:
Namely, that's playing strong defensively and getting the puck to the other guys.
"Playing with 'G,' he's really loud when he wants the puck, which is a good thing," Aston-Reese says.
Sullivan had deployed the trio before earlier this season only to quickly abandon it. But Malkin should certainly be highly motivated to make it work this time. Kessel, too. Finding a suitable left winger for Malkin has been an ongoing dilemma since the Carl Hagelin trade on Nov. 14.
With Aston-Reese playing on the left, it allows Kessel to move back to the right, allowing him to take his trademark crow-hop wrister. And it keeps Malkin and Kessel together, despite Sullivan's misgivings about using them on the same line.
As for Aston-Reese?
"Anywhere I'm in the lineup is a good spot for me," he says. "To play with those two would be nice, given the opportunity. If I'm given the opportunity come Tuesday against the Devils, I'm going to do my best to take advantage of it."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Rangers, PPG Paints Arena, Feb. 17, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS