Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin: 'I know I can play better. And I will'

It was a play that displayed the brilliance that will ensure him a plaque in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

And he didn’t even get an assist on it.

During Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime home loss to the rival Washington Capitals, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin helped set up his team’s second goal.

Working on a power-play opportunity, Malkin tried to play a bouncing puck at the right point of the offensive zone. As Capitals forward/leviathan Tom Wilson bore down on Malkin and thumped him with a stiff shoulder check, Malkin was adroit enough to keep the puck inside the offensive zone by sliding it to the right corner as he fell onto his backside.

From there, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel claimed the puck and shuffled a pass to the left circle. With Capitals forward Lars Eller and defenseman John Carlson surrounding him, Crosby backhanded a pass to the right circle for Penguins forward Bryan Rust. Accepting the puck on his forehand, he flipped to his backhand and shoved a shot past the glove of scrambling goaltender Ilya Samsonov.

Crosby and Guentzel recorded the assists. But Malkin was the reason the goal happened.

“Just a tremendous play,” Guentzel said. “If that gets by, it’s a two-on-one (rush) for them. Just a great play by (Malkin) to keep that puck in. He might not get an assist on it, but that’s the reason for the goal. We give him a lot of credit for that.”

Malkin did score the Penguins’ opening goal in the contest on a power-play chance. In total, he has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 12 games since he returned to the lineup Jan. 11 after recuperating from offseason surgery to his right knee.

On the surface, his base statistics look fantastic. A point-per-game average will make you look like an All-Star.

But more than half of his points (three goals, four assists) have come on the power play. And those figures don’t account for the all-too-common turnovers that have pockmarked his play thus far.

To wit, during a 5-2 road win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 21, Malkin forced a poor pass attempt that was intercepted by Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist, who converted the charity into a short-handed goal.

Malkin acknowledged he is still working through some rust after such a long layoff.

“It’s not easy, for sure,” Malkin said. “But I changed a couple of braces before. I feel a little bit better. I try to play simple right now. My confidence (is) back at a little bit high level right now. I (am) focused on (a) simple game right now. After (the All-Star) break, I hope I start playing more and more minutes and (coach Mike Sullivan will) trust me more.

“I think my game is back. Now, I feel like my knee is normal now. I’m not scared anymore. I have a couple of battles in the corners but all good. My confidence (will be) back for sure after the break.”

His teammates sure seem confident in what Malkin has offered this season.

“Just to have a star player like that back in your lineup, I think it helps depth-wise,” Guentzel said. “He’s a generational talent. Just for us to see him back in the lineup and to see what he does, he makes us a better team. He’s scoring a lot of goals and getting a lot of points out there for us. So it’s been nice to have him back.”

In Malkin’s eyes, a little more work is in order for him to really be back.

“I try to do my best,” Malkin said. “I know I can play better. And I will.”