Penguins: Do We Really Need Malkin (Yet)?
By Rich Donahue
The Pittsburgh Penguins take on the New York Ranges in Game 3 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Penguins are between a rock and a hard. Evgeni Malkin was cleared to play in Game 2, collecting an assist in the Penguins 4-2 loss to the Rangers. It was evident early that Geno was rusty, looking slow most of the game especially in transition. Prior to his return, the Penguins were flying from end to end in their north-south style of attack. Malkin, to his credit, is one of the best east-west style players in the NHL.
In his absence, Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin have taken off as a dynamic one-two punch. They have been playing with Nick Bonino, which relegated Malkin to play with Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust, who also returned from injury. However, Geno was used mainly as a winger on Crosby’s line. After the game, Malkin said he does not want to play the wing moving forward. So what do the Penguins do?
Though it may sound crazy, but do we really need Malkin to beat the Rangers? The doctors did clear him to play, but as it looked on the ice yesterday, he still might not be 100%. This could have just been rust; he only had a few practices under his belt before returning.
If Fleury can return for Game 3 (we definitely need him), this could allow the Penguins to sit Malkin for the remainder of this series. Unless the Penguins find themselves in a hole, the additional time off could serve the Penguins well in the next series. Of course, they still need to advance, which won’t be easy with Lundqvist back between the pipes.
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I highly doubt Mike Sullivan actually employs this strategy. The power play has been awful since Malkin went down and his lone assist cam on Kessel’s power play goal. Still, sitting Malkin for a few extra games could serve both he and this team well going forward in the playoffs.