CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Evgeni Malkin's achieved an astronomical level of success over 14 NHL seasons, from the three Stanley Cups to MVP to scoring champ to ... heck, if all he'd had on his resume was that one whip-around backhander to bury the Hurricanes all those winters ago, that'd be plenty.
You know the one ...
Fair or not, that'll likely stick as his signature goal long after he's done.
Because, you know, it mattered.
It came, of course, in the 2009 Eastern Conference Final, against a Carolina team that'd raised the Cup three years earlier and was still built around world-class goaltending from Cam Ward. And even though it'd comprise one small component of a Pittsburgh sweep, that goal, that signature goal might well have been what propelled those Penguins to push past those Red Wings on the second try.
The goal mattered. A ton of his 416 goals, 1,076 points and 168 playoff points have mattered.
If there's one most magnificent common denominator between Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby and Malkin -- and don't dare ever leave him off one of the great franchise-based Mount Rushmores in professional sports history -- it's exactly this quality: Great as all four of them were or are, they were always somehow, strikingly that much better when it mattered.
So, on this mid-July Monday morning, with the Penguins being put through a hard, if chaotic scrimmage, preparing amid a pandemic for a Stanley Cup playoffs like no other, with still another dozen days until the puck drops between them and the Canadiens, the one player who towered above the rest, the one dominating possession over all 200 x 85 of ice, the one rushing, head-faking, then dropping to the trailer for this Jack Johnson goal ...
... was the same one with the resume above.
Why?
Because this, to him, matters.
I asked Malkin, minutes after this scrimmage, why he's doing this. Why he's flying around like this. Why he's been doing it, by all accounts, from the opening of the early, voluntary, socially distanced sessions with a maximum six skaters.
The smile before he began his response might've been even more telling than what followed:
Evgeni Malkin's Zoom call Monday. - PENGUINS"I always think about Cups, for sure," he started. "I'm glad to be back on the ice. It’s my job. It’s what I’ve done all my life. It’s a new reality right now. It’s not easy for everyone. We understand how important it is for each player. We're trying to do everything to bring the game back, to get to the playoffs."
From a health standpoint, he clearly meant.
"No fans …. it’s hard, but we still love this game."
I asked what's in his head, in his heart right now. We've always kind of communicated that way.
"In my head ... I’m focused right now on my game. I skate hard. I work hard every day. I try practicing hard every day."
Then came that smile again.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm going hard. It's all about winning."
Always is with this one.
“His work ethic is terrific," Mike Sullivan spoke afterward, adding to a universal chorus on that topic throughout this camp. "I think he’s leading through his example. You guys can see when you watch him practice every day, the level of intensity he’s playing the game with and practicing with right now. It’s contagious throughout our team."
Eh. Probably not the best word choice these days, but hey.
"I think it’s just an indication of how excited he is to play," Sullivan continued. "I think he likes the group we have. I think he likes the opportunity we have in front of us, and he’s going to do everything in his power to help the Penguins be successful. It’s fun to watch him when he’s in this type of a mindset, and I think he’s only going to get better here with every day that he plays and he gets in more game condition. You can see how dominant he can be when he’s in these intrasquad games.”
No doubt. It's almost as obvious as the objective: Winning.
Not to mention the unspoken undercurrent: He'll turn 34 on July 31, the eve of these playoffs. He's running out of chances for more, as are Crosby and Kris Letang, the other present members of the Penguins' three-ring club.
At this camp, I've now asked all three for their thoughts on that, and all three spoke passionately about feeling their legacies will be linked to the Cups more than anything else. As Letang replied, "When you have the chance to be on a team like ours and to be successful like we’ve been, to have another championship would solidify what we’ve been able to accomplish in Pittsburgh." And as Crosby replied, “You have a short window in your career to be able to do that. Anytime you get the opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup, you want to take advantage of it."
Well, here it is. And it's better than most opportunities, I'd think, as Sullivan suggested was part of Malkin's extra fire. He's on a line with the career-best version of Bryan Rust and his found-gold left winger in Jason Zucker, who wouldn't even be here had it not been for Jake Guentzel's Christmastime injury that was supposed to keep him out most of the summer but now, thanks to the summer-long delay, he's back with Crosby to load up the top line, too.
He's aware all, right.
“We didn’t play together much this year," Malkin said, referring to Zucker. "But it’s coming, I hope. We connect with each other. We play with Rusty, too. He’s my real partner this year, like a long time. We try to talk. I think we’ll be fine. … We have a good system and the coach tries to help us, too. If we play right, we'll score, for sure.”
Practices and scrimmages don't mean much, but there's been some chemistry as Zucker tries to find his way.
It's actually been hard to tell, primarily, because Malkin's had the puck so much himself. Which, as anyone who's appreciated his career can attest, is when he's been at his best. That version that Brooks Orpik used to jokingly -- or not -- refer to as the 'Russian Bear' that no opponent would want to wake up.
On one power play in the scrimmage Monday, for example, he might well have been assigned to all five positions, the way he dangled around the perimeter, then drifted across the blue line with the puck on his backhand while shouldering off a penalty-killer, then swung to the inside to whip a shot on Tristan Jarry.
That's full-on Bear to the 71st degree.
He's motivated by the Cup. He's motivated by the legacy. He's also motivated, as he'll openly allow, by family.
"Two days ago, for the first time, he skated with full gear," Malkin said of son Nikita's look in his Instagram post earlier in the day. "I’m so glad … It’s not easy for him, for sure. I understand it’s not easy staying home all day. I understand how hard it is for my wife, staying home with my son. He spends so much energy every day. He plays games, plays hockey … soccer, everything. I spent time with my family, my son, and I’m teaching him a little bit to roller-skate, too. He started in Miami. They’re staying here right now.”
Malkin's wife, Anna Kasterova, sounds like she's all-in, too. She spoke the following about her husband earlier this summer in an interview with the Russian newspaper Sport-Express: “He has spent many years in Pittsburgh and knows everything here. He and Crosby are two No. 1s. Together, they won three Cups. ... If he wins a fourth Cup, it will happen in Pittsburgh. A good manager, coach and team atmosphere are very important. Pittsburgh has it all. They love him there, and he loves them, too.”
Once he could stray from the house in Miami, Malkin connected via FaceTime with Alex Trinca, a Penguins' strength and conditioning coach, to set up an aggressive program aimed at having him fully primed if/when the NHL season would ever resume.
“I’m a lucky guy, I think," Malkin said. "We have a home gym in our building, I had a treadmill on my balcony, and I ran every day. A couple of days, I went to the beach in the morning, when it wasn’t super hot and just did stuff on the beach. I roller-skated, too. Like two times a week. I did pretty much everything I do in the summertime, except no ice. We couldn’t skate. It’s a little bit hard. But I tried to be in the best shape."
He didn't even mention wood-chopping without being prompted. Which is hard to fathom, considering its singular excellence as a visual:
Evgeni Malkin, lumberjack. - INSTAGRAM“I have so many woods around my house," he explained. "It’s just like, ‘Why not do it?’ It’s a good workout, good cardio. It’s not easy, too.”
What he aims to achieve never is.
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