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The Pittsburgh Penguins know that they most likely won’t make it past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs without big contributions from key players. For the Penguins those key players are obvious: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby broke through in Game 2 with two goals to help even the series with the New York Rangers, but the Pens are once again behind a game and need Malkin to break out of his slump.
Malkin is one of the most gifted and skilled players in the game, but is currently going through as bad a stretch as he’s ever had in his NHL career. Malkin has gone eight games without a point, which is the longest pointless slump of his career. He’s gone even longer without a goal, with Malkin’s last goal coming 14 games ago. It’s obviously not lack of effort, but the Penguins desperately need some scoring from Malkin right away.
The Penguins are in danger of falling behind 3-1 in the series to New York if Pittsburgh loses Game 4 at home. The Rangers have played stout defense for most of the series, but Malkin must break through and give his team a boost. With 111 career points in the playoffs, Pittsburgh relies on steady production on the score sheet from Malkin. He may still be battling lingering effects of an injury, but Malkin has to fight through it and make more of an impact. The Rangers have done well to limit his time and space with the puck and have also agitated the Russian star throughout the first three games.
The Pens need a spark from somewhere on offense immediately in Game 4. The crowd was going crazy as they cheered in anticipation of the start of Game 3, hoping to give the Pens an extra gear of energy. Pittsburgh then came out and played 15 minutes before getting a shot on goal. The Penguins have not scored first in any of the three games, and Malkin is the key to Pittsburgh getting a faster start. The Rangers are going to pressure Malkin and try to bother him, but he’s so skillful with the puck that he should be able to create space. Malkin showed good energy in the third period of Game 3 when the Penguins were making a push to try and tie the game. That should be a sign that he still has good speed despite the possibility of a nagging injury.
Pittsburgh needs to be more aggressive on the attack and in the neutral zone, which should cause the Rangers to take some penalties. Pittsburgh only got three power plays combined in their two losses in the series, and a man advantage is a great way to get Malkin room to make plays.
A slump like this for such a great player has to hurt the confidence level, but Malkin must stay positive. Malkin usually does well against the Rangers, and that should help him regain some confidence moving deeper into the series. One way or another, the Penguins need big plays from star players, and Malkin needs to end his skid now.
