By Karen Price
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Penguins coach Michel Therrien generally likes having the 1-2 punch of playing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on opposite lines.
Chief among the advantages are the decisions the setup forces opposing coaches to make with regard to where they play their top defensemen and checking lines.
But he's also not been opposed to putting the pair together in a pinch, and going into Friday night's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on a five-game skid, the pinch started at the beginning. For the first time in almost two months, Therrien started Malkin, 20, on the right wing with Crosby, 19, in the middle and veteran Mark Recchi, 38, on the left.
"I like the way that every time we have a chance to use them in critical situations it gives us some life as a team," Therrien said. "We decided to go that way and it worked well (Friday)."
Although they didn't score at even strength, the pair did create plenty of scoring chances in the 4-1 win. One such chance was in the second period, when goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin made a big save on a 2-on-1 with Recchi and Malkin before play turned back the other direction and Mats Sundin scored on Marc-Andre Fleury.
That left the line minus-1 on the night, although Malkin had a goal and an assist on the power play and Crosby, who leads the NHL in scoring with 58 points in 34 games, had three power-play assists. Malkin leads all rookies in points with 36 in 33 games.
"I think any time we're together we want to create things and I think we did a pretty good job of that," Crosby said. "Playing with (Malkin), you know if you get one chance it's in the net and it's always nice to have someone like that on your line."
Therrien started Crosby and Malkin together in late October, several games after Malkin made his NHL debut. He had used the pair together for periods in earlier games, usually when the team was behind and needed a spark. But when they believed Malkin could benefit from time on the wing as he made the transition to the NHL, he played on the left side with Colby Armstrong on the right.
But by early November, Therrien went back to using Crosby and Malkin on opposite lines, and that's how they've played the majority of their games ever since.
Therrien said the most recent decision to put the two together -- besides the desperate need to win a game after five straight losses -- actually was the play of Erik Christensen, who centered the second line on Friday with Ryan Malone and Michel Ouellet on the wings after playing most of the last month on the wing.
Christensen, 23, has scored in each of the past two games and now has seven goals in 16 games, compared to six in 33 games last season.
"(Christensen) is playing really solid," Therrien said. "He's a really effective player and he's putting some numbers up there. That's one of the reasons why. He's a centerman and since he's been with us, because we have a lot of centermen, he's been on the wing. But the way that that young kid is capable to perform, that gave us another asset. He can do the job."
Malkin, speaking through interpreter George Birman, said that despite playing outside his natural position in the middle, he wouldn't have any objections to playing with Crosby all the time.
"Of course, it's great to play with Crosby and Mark Recchi," he said. "They're two great players. We spend lots of time in the offensive zone so I'd love to continue to play with them. ... It's more comfortable in the center, but at the same time we do lots of changes, with Sidney playing on the wing or I change with Mark Recchi. It's a little bit different, but to play with them it's worth it."
Karen Price can be reached at kprice@tribweb.com.
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