CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Two weeks ago, Evgeni Malkin took to Instagram to share some photos taken from a beach workout session.
Judging by the pictures, Malkin looked to be more lean and a little more muscular than he usually is this time of year. That's because he was all the more driven this summer by the way last season went for him individually. He didn't live up to his standards.
"When you have a bad year, you want it back," he said. "It's like, my point this year. I didn't have a great year last year. I'm not happy, for sure. Now it's a new challenge for me. I want back my highest level. I know I can still play at my top level, and I want to show to everyone I'm not done. I'm excited to show everything. ... I want it back, my top level for sure."
Malkin centered a line of Alex Galchenyuk and Brandon Tanev during the scrimmage on Day 1 of training camp, and the line contributed two goals to a 3-1 win over Sidney Crosby's team. After Crosby scored the opening goal of the scrimmage for his team, Malkin forced a turnover and capitalized to tie the game.
"They did a turnover, I have a breakaway and I just see high-glove a little bit open," he said. "I just shoot it. It's not a pretty goal. I'm excited, first exhibition game, and I have a little bit more confidence right now."
Tanev scored the third goal of the game for his team, an empty-net tally. This was the first of such scrimmages for Tanev and Galchenyuk after joining the Penguins, and while they're still adjusting to their new team and building chemistry, Malkin was impressed with what he saw from them. Line combinations used on the first day of camp are hardly set in stone, but it seems like Malkin would be happy sticking with this combination on his line.
"Really fast," Malkin said of his linemates. "(Tanev) is probably one of the fastest guys in the NHL. We try to understand each other, we try to talk, we have a lot of time to have good chemistry. It's just the first day, we scored two goals, but we can play better for sure. The new guys, they need to understand the system. We have more meetings. They look on the TV, like, how we play. I think we'll be fine. I like to play with these two guys. They're hungry, they're young. We want to win every game."
Malkin said he worked on power skating, stick handling, faceoffs, his scoring and defensive play this summer. He worked with a group of NHL players in Russia, and came to Pittsburgh two weeks earlier than he usually does. Mike Sullivan took notice of Malkin, who had a strong first day of camp, especially in the scrimmage.
"I think Geno is in great shape," said Sullivan. "He's worked extremely hard over the course of the summer to prepare himself for this training camp. I know how important it is to him. It's important for him to be a leader, and it starts with his example. I thought he worked extremely hard today in practice and in the intra-squad game. That's encouraging from our standpoint, but certainly Geno's a guy that I think can lead in a number of different ways. We really like where his mindset is right now. He's excited to play."
Malkin, too, expressed his desire to be more of a leader at this point of his career, on a team whose window he believes is very much still open.
"I know I'm 33 years old, young guys are here, I want to just have leadership here," he said. "We have a great team. We have a couple -- two, three, four -- chances to win again. It's like, not many years maybe I play in the NHL, you know? I understand that. But I have fun and enjoy it every day."
MORE FROM DAY 1 OF CAMP
• Players were divided into three practice groups, and will be in these groups through Sunday:
• Team 1 and Team 2 practiced first, then scrimmaged. The lines and pairings for Team 1 were the following, with the goaltenders switching at the halfway point:
Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Dominik Kahun
Sam Poulin -- Sam Lafferty -- Zach Aston-Reese
Sam Miletic -- Jordy Bellerive -- Anthony Angello/Jan Drozg
Pierre-Olivier Joseph -- John Marino
David Warsofsky -- Kris Letang
Jack Johnson -- Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Alex D'Orio
• Here were the lines and pairings for Team 2, with the goaltenders again switching at the half:
Alex Galchenyuk -- Evgeni Malkin -- Brandon Tanev
Adam Johnson -- Teddy Blueger -- Bryan Rust
Joseph Cramarossa -- Joseph Blandisi -- Ryan Haggerty
Brian Dumoulin -- Calen Addison
Kevin Czuczman -- Erik Gudbranson
Matt Abt -- Jon Lizotte
Casey DeSmith
Emil Larmi
• Team 2 defeated Team 1, 3-1. Crosby opened the scoring for Team 1 off of a feed from Jake Guentzel and Dominik Kahun. Malkin forced a turnover and scored on a breakaway to tie the game, then Teddy Blueger gave Team 2 the lead on a penalty shot. Team 1 pulled its goaltender with two minutes remaining in the scrimmage, and Tanev scored the empty-netter in the final minute to put the game away for Team 2.
• The two teams' practices were held simultaneously on the two rinks at the Lemieux Complex, and I watched Team 2. Emil Larmi stood out to me in the drills, just from the amount of athletic saves he made — he made a lot of diving stops. Near the end of the drills he had a great poke check on Malkin.
• Both teams did conditioning and skills work after the scrimmage, and development coach Matt Cullen was on the ice to help. Jan Drozg stood out here for me, as well as in the scrimmage, because of his speed.
• Team 3 practiced and then did conditioning and skills work after. Kasper Bjorkqvist, who had offseason shoulder surgery, was a full participant, as was Niclas Almari, who was injured in Saturday's Prospects Challenge game and was in a no-contact sweater for the informal skate earlier this week.
• Team 3 used the line of Jared McCann, Nick Bjugstad, and Patric Hornqvist in drills. We'll have a better idea of their lines and pairings when they scrimmage tomorrow.
• Hornqvist, on how he feels after a long summer: "I think it's always good to have a longer summer for preparation. But the thing is, you have to take care of it too. Because you have an extra month or two, you can't just think you're going to be better because of that. You have to take care of your body and build it up, and go from there."
• Justin Almeida, who is rehabbing from shoulder surgery, skated on his own this morning prior to today's practices and did not join Team 3 for its sessions. He was in a no-contact sweater earlier this week.
• Mario Lemieux was sitting up in the box watching practice.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins training camp, Cranberry, Pa., Sept. 13, 2019 -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
