Giant Gino on the Islanders patch
It was an extraordinary day for Evgeni Malkin and his Pittsburgh team for several reasons.
Let’s start with the fact that nothing suggested such a defeat for the Islanders. New York was third in the Eastern Conference and the visiting Pens didn’t even make the playoffs. Moreover, the hosts’ goal was scored by the best goalkeeper Ilya Sorokin, who was nominated for the Vezina Trophy at the end of last season – an award for the best goalkeeper in the league. And after the first half, the score remained 0:0.
But in the second, Pittsburgh gave the Islanders a complete rout, scoring six unanswered goals! Malkin also had a double. In the 33rd minute, he joined the attack, received a pass from Smith on the move and beat the goalkeeper. And a little over three minutes later, when Letang handed him the puck, the giant Gino in the backfield figured it out again.
The score increased from 3:0 to 5:0, Sorokin went to the bench after the break, everything became clear in this match.
Malkin enters the “top 500”
It’s also surprising that Malkin isn’t even among the top three stars in the game. But there were other heroes too. Defender Kris Letang gave six assists (0+6), Jake Guentzel scored 3 (2+1) points and goalkeeper Tristan Jarry scored a goal. The entire Pittsburgh team played superbly, giving its fans New Year’s hope that the team could still make the playoffs.
By the way, Letang became the first defenseman in NHL history to score five points in a single period. And in the third period, he added another assist to set the NHL record for most passes in a game by a defenseman.
“I didn’t find out about it until after the game,” Letang said of the NHL record. “I think our coach Todd Reirden talked to me about it, but he wasn’t 100 percent sure.” It was one of those nights where everyone scored every time I gave them the puck.
Malkin also scored. Moreover, his excellent record appeared unexpectedly. Honestly, the entire world hockey press was focused on the fact that Gino was going to enter the “top 500”. We counted down to when he would score his 500th career goal in the regular season.
But we must not forget that Evgeni Malkin today, here and now, became the second Russian sniper in the history of the NHL, scoring his 484th goal. That evening, like a Stakhanovite, he caught up and overtook Sergei Fedorov (483), followed by Alexander Mogilny (473), Ilya Kovalchuk (443), Pavel Bure (437), Alexey Kovalev (430), Vyacheslav Kozlov (356 ) and our other stars.
In the lead is Alexander Ovechkin (828). But no one will surpass this guy in the years to come. Only Wayne Gretzky (894) is higher, but he is already 62 years old. And he is unlikely to return to the NHL like 50-year-old goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin to score more and more goals.
Now we must win our fourth Stanley Cup
It is also surprising that Malkin, in principle, is not a sniper. He is a manager who makes his teammates better. Scoring goals is not his most important task. All three rely on him, and the most important thing is that the team on the ice under Malkin is successful, working like clockwork.
At the same time, Gino suffered numerous injuries during his career. He had such health problems that anyone else in his position would have hung up their skates long ago. Malkin (1096 matches) surpassed Fedorov (1248) in terms of goals. But he played 152 fewer games than dad Feds! Just imagine.
Let’s compare with Ovechkin. On average, Sasha scores 0.6 goals per match. And Malkin’s figure is 0.44 goals per game. Okay, not a huge difference.
Gino overtook Fedorov. And he’s not just a player. Sergei Viktorovich Fedorov is a center forward that Malkin idolized. When Zhenya was growing up in the Ural city, when he started playing hockey, he watched Fedorov. There might even be a poster of a Detroit player with the number 91 on the wall above Malkin’s bed. And that’s already a big deal for the 37-year-old Pittsburgh center. Now Malkin’s poster also hangs above the beds of many boys who are taking their first steps in big hockey.
Evgeniy now needs to score 16 goals to reach the 500 career goal mark. Malkin has every chance to do so at the end of this season. He had a good run, collecting 29 points (13+16) in 33 matches. One point per game is just cruising!
Well, now we have to get into the “top 500” and go with Pittsburgh in the playoffs. If Malkin wins his fourth Stanley Cup, he will once again surpass Sergei Fedorov for the most NHL trophies. This is what we wish him!
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
