PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Penguins center Evgeni Malkin celebrates his first NHL hat trick in the third period against the Maple Leafs Jan. 3, 2007, at Mellon Arena.
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
On Sunday afternoon, about 20 minutes after Evgeni Malkin's latest virtuoso performance, Mario Lemieux walked into the Penguins dressing room cradling a white cardboard box in his left hand.
Lemieux gave Malkin a fist bump.
"Nice game, Geno," Lemieux said. "And thanks for the vodka."
See, Malkin isn't merely sprinting to the top of the NHL scoring chart, sparking the Penguins to big wins without Sidney Crosby and making a case for league MVP. He's also taking care of the team owner.
The young Russian ordered some of the good stuff -- straight from his homeland -- for Lemieux, who, like everyone else, was mesmerized by Malkin's latest magic show in a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
"He's one of the best in the world," Lemieux said. "Since Sid went down, he's really picked up his game. He wants to be the go-to guy, and he's showing it on the ice.
"It's quite amazing."
With his parents, Vladimir and Natalia, watching from Lemieux's box at Mellon Arena, Malkin recorded his first four-point game of the season (goal, three assists) and third of his career.
On the morning of Jan. 19, the day after Crosby was injured, Malkin was 14th in the NHL scoring race with 52 points. Ten games and 21 points later, he is tied for second with 73 points, behind only countryman Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, who has 76.
The Penguins are 6-2-2 without Crosby. Malkin has eight goals and 13 assists in that span, 15 points in the past five games.
After Sunday's victory, the following question made the rounds: Is Malkin more like a young Jaromir Jagr or a young Lemieux? Several veteran team observers weighed in, including Lemieux, who was asked if he sees a bit of himself in Malkin.
"Yes," Lemieux said, smiling. "He's 6-4. He's handling the puck pretty good. He wants the puck every night, every shift, and that's the sign of a great player."
The consensus was that Malkin, 21, indeed is more like the early Lemieux, before injuries forced him to change his game and before his body filled out.
True, Malkin dipsy-doodles and dominates the puck against heavy physical pressure like a young Jagr, but he's really not a bull. He's more like a horse, the way he gallops. Plus, his body type (a shade under 6-foot-4, plenty lean) and style rather evoke a young Lemieux.
Like Lemieux, Malkin swoops in on defenders. He is that rare combination of open-ice artist and sniper, a deadly mix of playmaker and goal scorer.
"He sees the ice so well, like Mario," said former Penguins coach and general manager Ed Johnston, who drafted Lemieux. "Mario had control of the game. He'd slow it down, then pick up guys coming late. Malkin does the same thing. He button-hooks and makes those plays."
One other ex-player's name came up: Vladimir Malkin, who played professionally for his hometown team in Magnitogorsk. The competition back then was equivalent to the low-level minors, but the elder Malkin, who stands well under 6 feet, apparently passed on some valuable gifts to his youngest son.
Malkin's parents consented to an interview after Sunday's game. Team employee George Birman translated. This is the Malkins' second visit to Pittsburgh. They plan to stay until Feb. 26.
Natalia Malkin chuckled as her husband spoke, but he was dead serious when he said, "I think Evgeni took a lot from me -- the way to think on the ice, the vision, my hands. But the way he is inside -- the toughness and personal character -- that's from his mom. She's a tough girl."
Television cameras showed Mrs. Malkin cheering for her son after his goal Sunday. She says he displayed a flair and passion for the game almost from the moment he picked up his first stick.
"From when he was 5, he was competitive, a leader in whatever he was doing," she said. "He would always try to be the best."
The Malkins are loving their time in Pittsburgh, where the "people are very friendly to us," Mrs. Malkin said. The atmosphere back in Magnitogorsk has improved of late, too, though it wasn't easy when Malkin abruptly left his hometown team to come to the Penguins before last season.
The move created some hard feelings among hockey fans there.
"People have cooled off," Mr. Malkin said. "But some of them still remember and say things like, 'Oh, he can't do this to us.' But here's the thing: The people who understand hockey said, 'You know, he did it the right way. He has to be in the best league. He deserves to play there.' "
The Malkins, who have one other child, Denis, 23, run Evgeni's offbeat restaurant/deli back in Magnitogorsk. Called the VIP Zone, it is designed in the motif of a maximum-security Russian prison, complete with barred windows, aluminum forks, lamps that look like police flashlights, waitresses in striped suits and bills dotted with fingerprints.
After it opened two-and-a-half years ago, Malkin told a local newspaper he wanted "a restaurant that would be something absolutely new, like nothing before it."
So, how's business?
"In Magnitogorsk, there aren't too many rich people who can afford to go every day to a nice restaurant," Vladimir Malkin said. "It's not great business, but it's all right."
He laughed and added, "We'll have enough money to come to Pittsburgh again."
The way things are going, maybe they shouldn't leave.
Joe Starkey can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com or 412-320-7810.
FRONT FOUR
Evgeni Malkin has 158 points in his first 134 NHL games. A look at how Malkin's numbers compare with those of Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby and Jaromir Jagr at the same point in their careers:
Player G A Pts.
Lemieux 83 133 216
Crosby 64 126 190
Malkin 64 94 158
Jagr 54 60 114
Source: Elias Sports Bureau
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