Additional Stories
Malkin delivers in Penguins' defeat
Russian club ready to sue over Malkin
Reminders of Lemieux
Notebook: Lemieux, Balsillie in the house
Joe Starkey
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Sidney Crosby was unusually loose after the Penguins' morning skate Wednesday at Mellon Arena.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that somebody -- finally -- was going to ease his burden as the Penguins' only star. Heck, as their only bona fide threat.
That somebody, of course, was Evgeni Malkin, who made his long-awaited, much-debated, two-week-belated NHL debut last night against the New Jersey Devils.
"I'd love to set him up for his first one," Crosby said. "Hopefully, me and him can have a lot of memorable nights together, and, hopefully, this will be one of them."
Hopefully, coach Michel Therrien will put the two together more often, but we'll get to that in a minute.
First, let's state the obvious: Malkin's a superstar.
That might sound ludicrous, considering he is only 20 years old and has logged precisely 18 minutes, 15 seconds of NHL ice time.
But if you saw him in the Olympics and again last night, you know it to be true.
Malkin was the best player on the ice in the 2-1 loss. He scored the Penguins' only goal, barely missed another on a skillful deflection, dangled the puck and slowed the game the way that Mario guy once did, dropped Devils winger Cam Janssen like a horsefly, and, for good measure, broke a pane of glass behind the Devils net on a wicked slap shot with 8:32 left.
Oh, and Malkin's former Russian team reportedly notified the NHL several hours before the game that it will be suing the league and the Penguins.
Talk about a full day.
As game-time neared, the line for $20 student-rush tickets wound a few hundred yards around the arena. Some fans wore brand-new, No. 71 Malkin jerseys ($160 will get you one, too).
A roar went up when the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Malkin skated out for warm-ups. A louder one ensued when he followed Crosby out of the tunnel before the game.
The standing-room-only crowd of 17,030 -- it was Crosby Bobblehead Night, as well -- was ready to erupt at the slightest hint of a Malkin moment, but all they got for most of the first two periods was a deflection off the goal post behind Martin Brodeur, who finished with 37 saves in a performance similar to the one he turned in last season in Crosby's NHL debut.
Crosby and Malkin began the night on the same line but were reunited only once in the first period and not again until late in the second, with the Penguins trailing, 1-0, and desperately needing a spark.
They got an inferno. Crosby, Malkin and Mark Recchi buzzed around Brodeur, who finally covered up a weak Recchi shot -- or appeared to, anyway.
Malkin swooped in and made like a shuffleboard player, poking the puck from between Brodeur's pads and slowly over the goal line. Bedlam ensued. Malkin pumped his fist as Brodeur argued with the referee.
Public address announcer John Barbero finally made the call, above the roars:
"Penguins goal, his first of the season and first in the National Hockey League, scored by No. 71, Evgeni Maaaaaalkinnnnnnn!"
Curiously, Therrien did not keep Malkin and Crosby together. He should consider doing so, because the Penguins don't appear to have enough firepower on the wings to generate much offense otherwise.
As Crosby said afterward, when asked about unexpectedly starting the game on Malkin's line, "Hopefully, it'll be one of many shifts we play together."
Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment