There he is. Evgeni Malkin is officially back in the lineup after being absent since May of 2021. In recent memory it has taken Geno a little while to get going. Not the case last night. He scored his first goals since March 15th and then decided to also score his second goal since March 15th. He finished with two goals and an assist. A wonderful return to the lineup. The team even scored on his very first shift even if Malkin didn’t find the scoresheet.
His first goal was on the power play.
I have a feeling #71 will help improve upon the 22nd ranked power play in the league. Also, nice hops Sid. He might not be able to jump as high as his new owner, but screening the goalie and hopping out of the way like he did was impressive.
Malkin went on to add an even-strength goal later to help the Penguins regain a two-goal lead.
Go to the front and good things happen.
Malkin’s first goal of the game was the game winner. Game winning goals isn’t the best stat going, but when you have 74 career game winning goals it is the product of you scoring a lot of goals. Here is how he ranks among Penguins.
Malkin’s underlying numbers were strong. Shot attempts were 18-11 when he was on the ice at 5v5. Scoring chances were 11-3. He finished the game with an xGF% of 60.10. All in all a great return.
Overshadowed by Malkin’s return was the fact Jeff Carter also scored twice. He opened the scoring on the second shift of the game on a nice turnaround min-slapper which caught Stolarz off-guard. He also scored the empty netter to seal the victory. Carter has six goals in his last eight games and eight points total. They have options with Jeff Carter now that Evan Rodrigues is playing like a star player. They could have him ride the wing with Geno or they could keep him as the third line center. I think there are good arguments for either choice and that means the Penguins have some much needed flexibility now that they are getting closer to having their players healthy (no related to COVID).
Tristan Jarry keeps playing and he keeps playing well. He only allowed a single goal stopping 25 out of 26 shots, a .962 save percentage. On the season he’s at .932. Don’t burn him out.
Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins will be in action again on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings. I’ve heard rumors Malkin is going to be traded there…
Thanks for reading!
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