It's only been two games, but the Evgeni Malkin-Ville Koivunen connection has been a huge success.
The Penguins' second line of Koivunen, Malkin and Rickard Rakell was the Penguins' best in their 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks at the United Center on Sunday, with that line being the source of much of the Penguins' offense in the loss.
With all three players on the ice together at five-on-five, the Penguins controlled 71.43% of shot attempts (15-6), 68.43% of unblocked attempts (13-6) and 76.92% of all shots on goal (10-3). Malkin was responsible for four of those five-on-five shots on goal, and five total, while Koivunen contributed two shots, both at even strength.
"It's coming together good," Koivunen told me of playing with Malkin. "We had awesome games, we got a few scoring chances, and I think we've played good together. But I think we had a little too much scoring chances against. We have to get better on that."
Koivunen said that Malkin will give him some pointers on the bench, but he's mostly telling him things like, "play to your strengths," and letting Koivunen play his game.
Koivunen was a Malkin fan as a kid, breaking into a grin and telling me, "pretty much everyone was when they were kids my age."
Malkin was asked about playing with Koivunen after Saturday's win over the Stars, and he was extremely complimentary. I read Koivunen Malkin's comments:
"I think he's the future of the team. He's amazing -- fast, smart. Every game he's been better. I think he's confident. I try to help him as much as I can, I'm happy for him."
Koivunen was almost giddy, getting wide-eyed over hearing what Malkin thinks about him.
"Oh, that means a lot," Koivunen said. "Yeah, that feels pretty good."
• Rickard Rakell scored the Penguins' lone goal. It was his 34th of the season, tying his previous career high set in the 2016-17 season.
• Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 28 of 30 shots.
• Sidney Crosby's point streak was snapped at 12 games.
• With Phil Tomasino sidelined with an upper-body injury, Joona Koppanen drew back into the lineup and led the Penguins with six hits. I chatted with Koopanen the other week, and he told me that his increased physicality this season is a result of an increased effort to bring that element, but it's also a result of playing wing and not center. He said he also just feels so much more comfortable playing the system that he feels more free to just play his game and not overthink things.
• Blackhawks player development advisor Chris Kunitz was in attendance and brought his wife and kids down by the Penguins' locker room afterward, where they caught up with Crosby, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust and Malkin.
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
1:10 am - 04.07.2025ChicagoLoose Pucks: Koivunen, Malkin 'coming together'
It's only been two games, but the Evgeni Malkin-Ville Koivunen connection has been a huge success.
The Penguins' second line of Koivunen, Malkin and Rickard Rakell was the Penguins' best in their 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks at the United Center on Sunday, with that line being the source of much of the Penguins' offense in the loss.
With all three players on the ice together at five-on-five, the Penguins controlled 71.43% of shot attempts (15-6), 68.43% of unblocked attempts (13-6) and 76.92% of all shots on goal (10-3). Malkin was responsible for four of those five-on-five shots on goal, and five total, while Koivunen contributed two shots, both at even strength.
"It's coming together good," Koivunen told me of playing with Malkin. "We had awesome games, we got a few scoring chances, and I think we've played good together. But I think we had a little too much scoring chances against. We have to get better on that."
Koivunen said that Malkin will give him some pointers on the bench, but he's mostly telling him things like, "play to your strengths," and letting Koivunen play his game.
Koivunen was a Malkin fan as a kid, breaking into a grin and telling me, "pretty much everyone was when they were kids my age."
Malkin was asked about playing with Koivunen after Saturday's win over the Stars, and he was extremely complimentary. I read Koivunen Malkin's comments:
"I think he's the future of the team. He's amazing -- fast, smart. Every game he's been better. I think he's confident. I try to help him as much as I can, I'm happy for him."
Koivunen was almost giddy, getting wide-eyed over hearing what Malkin thinks about him.
"Oh, that means a lot," Koivunen said. "Yeah, that feels pretty good."
• Rickard Rakell scored the Penguins' lone goal. It was his 34th of the season, tying his previous career high set in the 2016-17 season.
• Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 28 of 30 shots.
• Sidney Crosby's point streak was snapped at 12 games.
• With Phil Tomasino sidelined with an upper-body injury, Joona Koppanen drew back into the lineup and led the Penguins with six hits. I chatted with Koopanen the other week, and he told me that his increased physicality this season is a result of an increased effort to bring that element, but it's also a result of playing wing and not center. He said he also just feels so much more comfortable playing the system that he feels more free to just play his game and not overthink things.
• Blackhawks player development advisor Chris Kunitz was in attendance and brought his wife and kids down by the Penguins' locker room afterward, where they caught up with Crosby, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust and Malkin.
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Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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