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Evgeni Malkin vowed to 'be fire' with Sidney Crosby out, and he's done it again

Staff | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | December 17, 2019

Evgeni Malkin, proving to be prophetic, has indeed been fire.

On Nov. 14, the day the Penguins announced that Sidney Crosby had surgery to repair a sports hernia, Malkin vowed, “I will be fire,” a playful nod to a fire alarm that had just blared at the New Jersey rink where they practiced that day.

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Over the next 12 games, including Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar Arena, the team’s other superstar center would score six goals and dish out 13 assists. He posted a plus-7 rating. And Malkin scored the winner in Friday’s 2-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at PPG Paints Arena.

Yup, Malkin has done it again, elevating his play while Crosby was sidelined.

“I think he takes it on himself to … raise his game to another level, and that’s what he’s done for us,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He has the ability to change the outcome of games. He’s done that for us. He’s really playing hard for us right now.”

Malkin, in 133 such instances including Saturday, has scored 72 goals with 108 assists when Crosby was out with an injury – an average of 1.35 points per game. In 738 career games with both players in the lineup, he averaged 1.15.

But Sullivan says this time around, it has been more than just scoring for Malkin. He is pleased with how Malkin is “playing on both sides of the puck.”

“He’s winning faceoffs. He’s priding himself in a lot of the details, the little things associated with the game that are so important to helping teams win,” the coach said, adding, “He’s getting more defensive-zone starts. He’s getting matchups against other teams’ top lines. … We think Geno can play against anybody.”

The 33-year-old center has averaged about 20 minutes of ice time per game during Crosby’s absence. He has been fire on the majority of those shifts.

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