By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Peter Diana / Post-Gazette
Evgeni Malkin's performance has bouyed a team many thought was sunk with the injury that sidelined Sidney Crosby.
Forget the debate about whether Evgeni Malkin is more reminiscent of Mario Lemieux or Jaromir Jagr.
The person Malkin most resembles is his mother, to an almost uncanny degree.
But Natalia Malkin, who watched the Penguins practice yesterday with her husband, Vladimir, from the Mellon Arena stands, never won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's scoring champion -- something her son might accomplish in his second season in the league.
Lemieux and Jagr had that trophy pretty much locked up for the Penguins from 1992-2001, except for a guy named Wayne Gretzky sneaking in there to win it in '94.
Lemieux also won it in 1988 and '89, and Sidney Crosby won it last season. That means the Penguins have produced the league scoring champion 12 of the past 19 seasons. (The 2004-05 season was canceled because of the NHL lockout.)
When Crosby's right ankle was sprained Jan. 18 and he was projected to be out six to eight weeks -- a time frame still considered valid -- it looked as if the team would have to grudgingly let the Art Ross Trophy go to another club, along with the Hart Trophy, the most valuable player award also picked up by Crosby last season.
Not necessarily.
Malkin, clicking at center with linemates Petr Sykora and Ryan Malone, has 21 points in the 10 games since Crosby was hurt, going into a home game tonight against Boston. That line has combined for 47 points in those 10 games.
Through Monday, Malkin, 21, the NHL rookie of the year last season, had climbed into a second-place tie in the NHL with Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson at 73 points apiece, three behind Washington's Alex Ovechkin. Malkin has played one game fewer than Ovechkin, a fellow Russian and friend.
While Malkin's teammates are eager to champion him as a solid threat to win the Art Ross -- "I don't see why not; he's got the tools," winger Colby Armstrong said -- MVP talk comes a little less easy even though Malkin's play could accurately be described as invaluable as the Penguins have gone 6-2-2 and taken over the Atlantic Division lead in Crosby's absence. Malkin is on the top power-play unit, added penalty-killing to his repertoire this season and already was on pace to top his rookie point total of 85. He had 13 points in the seven games leading up to Crosby's injury.
Penguins coach Michel Therrien thought Valentine's week was too early to talk about Harts.
"Whoa, whoa," he said, raising his hands.
"We are talking big words, but of course since Sid went down and hurt his ankle, Geno stepped up in a big, big way," Sykora said of Malkin.
Defenseman Brooks Orpik believes Malkin's torrid pace without Crosby merits a Hart candidacy.
"After Sid got hurt, on TSN [a Canadian sports network], there was a poll -- Are the Penguins going to do better, the same, or drop out of the playoffs? -- and everyone voted for dropping out of the playoffs," Orpik said. "I think everyone in the room stepped up a little bit, but he's the one that really jumps off the charts and really, really picked up his game -- and that's not saying he wasn't playing well before Sid got hurt. He'd be the first to admit he's playing the best he's ever played in his career."
Malkin has said he has never had a stretch like this, in the NHL or with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, his hometown team in the Russian Super League. Then again, no one has handed him a pro team and allowed him to carry it on his shoulders.
"He was playing on the second or third line, so he never got the opportunity he's getting right now," said Sykora, who played with Malkin on Metallurg during the lockout season.
With the Penguins, there was always Crosby, who was playing center with Malkin at left wing before the ankle injury. Therrien has declined to speculate whether he will leave Malkin's line intact when Crosby returns.
Of all the Penguins, Crosby knows what a scoring championship and MVP season looks and feels like. He's willing to say Malkin has a shot at both.
"Yeah, I think so. He's really stepped it up," Crosby said. "I don't think he's worrying about it. He's playing great hockey. That's all he's got to worry about and those things will take care of themselves at the end of the season. He's definitely been a dominant player."
Defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who is Malkin's landlord, said Malkin "obviously has the talent" to be the NHL's MVP and confirmed Crosby's assessment that Malkin seems unaffected by his recent rise toward the top of the league.
Malkin, who does only occasional, limited interviews without a Russian interpreter, didn't have to answer out loud when asked in English if he was going to win the Art Ross and Hart trophies.
He simply smiled, raised his eyebrows and nodded. Only the mischievous look in his eyes conveyed that he was just having fun with the question, with hockey, with everything.
Since you've been gone
Here's a look at how Evgeni Malkin has played since Sidney Crosby's injury:
Games.....10
Goals.....8
Assists.....13
Points.....21
+/-.....+4
Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.
First published on February 13, 2008 at 12:00 am
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