The day the Pittsburgh Penguins made Evgeni Malkin their Alternate Captain, he put the team on his back and carried them the way Mario Lemieux used to. Malkin gave the Penguins their most emotional victory of the season.
The Penguins, three points below the Eastern Conference's playoff cutoff, coming into the game against Tampa Bay, were in danger of losing their fourth in a row until Malkin took a hit from former teammate Mark Recchi. Malkin got mad and yelled at Tampa Bay's bench after being checked behind the Lightning net early in the third.
The Penguins were down 3-0 when The Great Malkin started their comeback. He scored the Pens' first goal 2:25 into the third period and assisted on Petr Sykora's game-tying goal with 3:29 left in regulation.
Malkin completed the comeback with his league-leading 79th point with 15 seconds left on the overtime clock.
Malkin scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the season and is the NHL's Individual Offensive Leader, with 79 points—that's 10 points more than his closest rival, who is none other than his teammate, Sidney Crosby.
Malkin has 24 goals and 55 assists in 53 games. He's on track to get 122 points this season.
The Big Man From Magnitogorsk, the Scoring Machine from the Metallurg, Malkin was made out of iron and steel in Siberia, forged in Mother Russia, and honed in Pittsburgh, USA.
He is called Greatmalkin as he reminds people of Graymalkin, the cartoon character in the Marvel X-Men series. The name also alludes to the witches' cat in Shakepeare's Macbeth (Malkin is an old term for a cat).
Chosen second overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Penguins (behind national teammate Alexander Ovechkin), he captured the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie. Malkin finished his rookie campaign with 33 goals and 85 points, leading all first-year players.
In his second season, he helped carry Pittsburgh to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals and was a runner-up for the Hart Memorial Trophy. Malkin completed the season with 106 points, six points behind Alexander Ovechkin.
In his third season, he is the individual scoring leader, 11 points ahead of Ovechkin, 10 ahead of Crosby, and he is earning comparisons to Mario Lemieux.
At the team's morning skate yesterday in Pittsburgh, Penguins coach Michel Therrien named Malkin an alternate team captain for the remainder of the season.
Defenseman Brooks Orpik will be the other alternate captain until defenseman Sergei Gonchar returns from surgery later this month. Crosby remains captain.
Malkin, a man of few words, in English, reportedly said, "It's good!"
Pittsburgh outshot the Lightning 17-5 over the final period and overtime. Pittsburgh had five of the seven shots in overtime.
On the game winner, Malkin scored on a wrist shot before being pulled to his knees.
Malkin got up and celebrated the goal and the come-from-behind overtime victory by throwing his body against the glass. His teammates piled on top of him to celebrate. It was the kind of comeback victory that can turn around a season and send a team into the playoffs with great momentum.
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