Penguins Perspectives: OMGeno - 1,000 games of memories, memes, and so much more
Welcome to Penguins Perspectives, a weekly column by KDKA-TV Digital Producer Patrick Damp. Each Monday, Patrick will talk about the week that was, the week to come, what to watch for, and more.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Things in Penguins Land right now are up and down, a lot of downs to begin the season, but a positive we can glean is that yesterday Evgeni Malkin played his 1,000th NHL game, all of which were played in a Penguins uniform.
Rather than spend another week agonizing over what they need to fix to ensure it won't be the first season he doesn't play on a team that fails to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs (crazy, right? Evgeni Malkin has missed the playoffs due to injury but since he became a Penguin, the team has always qualified), I figured we could look back on some iconic Evgeni Malkin moments.
I'm Score
It's the phrase that launched dozens of Strip District t-shirts, memes, signs at Mellon Arena, and so much more.
As the Penguins were making their way through the Eastern Conference in 2009 en route to the franchise's third Stanley Cup, Evgeni Malkin came alive against the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference finals.
In game two, Malkin took over.
Geno recorded a hat trick, including the iconic spin-o-rama goal that would complete the hat trick, and added an assist for good measure.
A four-point night over the Hurricanes gave the Penguins a 2-0 series lead that they would never relinquish.
It was after the game when he spoke with Versus' Christine Simpson that he spoke his iconic line.
"I'm..try to help my team and I'm score."
Malkin would go on to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that year.
"Shades of Mario"
Evgeni Malkin erupted onto the NHL scene after his arrival in Pittsburgh was straight out of a spy movie.
(If you've never heard the story of Evgeni Malkin defecting from Russia to America to play for the Penguins, Sam Kasan formerly of the Penguins media team did a great look back on it here.)
He began the season late after being hurt in the preseason but made his NHL debut on October 18, 2006, against the New Jersey Devils. He scored in a losing effort, giving him his first NHL goal.
However, just about a week later, it was what he did against those same Devils that said to Pittsburgh and the National Hockey League, that he had arrived.
A stretch pass from Sidney Crosby onto the tape of Evgeni Malkin and not only did Malkin beat two defensemen, he absolutely torched one of the greatest goalies of all time in Martin Brodeur.
It was a sign of things to come. The young Penguins were here, they were exciting, and the future was as bright as it could be.
Hart of champion
Most Penguins fans will remember life between January 1, 2011, and March 15, 2012, as the concussion saga. Captain Sidney Crosby was sidelined thanks to a concussion he sustained in the NHL's Winter Classic at then Heinz Field thanks to a high hit from then-Washington Capitals player David Steckel.
Later in that 2010-11 season, Evgeni Malkin sustained a serious knee injury, tearing both his ACL and MCL, it required surgery and he was done for the year.
The Penguins ended that season losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs.
Crosby's status was unknown going into the 2011-12 season but Malkin vowed to return stronger than ever.
And he did.
That season Malkin recorded his career-high in goals, scoring 50, and adding 59 assists for 109 points, all in just 75 games. His new-found chemistry with James Neal made them one of the most lethal duos in the sport.
While Crosby would return in March later that season and the Penguins would ultimately fall to the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round, Evgeni Malkin won the Hart Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award, both given to the league's most valuable player, and he won the Art Ross Trophy, given to the league's top scorer.
He also provided us with highlights that year such as this one.
Malk-a-mania
On a personal level, I've never quite understood people in this town that have described Evgeni Malkin as "enigmatic." There is no enigma to Evgeni Malkin. He's a competitor of the highest degree.
So much so that he absolutely will let his emotions get the best of him, leading to selfish and often stupid penalties.
But the risk much, much outweighs the reward.
As James Neal once said, Evgeni Malkin plays at his best when he's the bully. When he wants the puck on his stick. When he wants to give the opposition a proverbial "shove it."
Who better to do that against than one of the fiercest of rivals the Philadelphia Flyers?
Let's set the scene: the young Penguins are in the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2008 playoffs. A year removed from getting bounced in five games by the Ottawa Senators (who went on to lose to Anaheim in the Stanley Cup Final), and now they're back and so far, they've made quick work of the first two rounds.
They got their revenge on Ottawa, sweeping them in four games. Then they dispatched the New York Rangers (and former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr) in five games.
The only thing standing behind them and their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 1992 are the hated Philadelphia Flyers.
With the Penguins holding onto a 3-2 lead in the second period and on the penalty kill, Evgeni Malkin gets the last laugh.
Richards may have thrown the hit, but Malkin threw him and his Flyers out of the playoffs in five games.
I said in the inaugural Penguins Perspectives, while I will always critique this team so long as they say the goal is Stanley Cup, I can't lose sight of what an era this has been, especially since 2006.
Evgeni Malkin is not Sidney Crosby, nor should ever try to be, but he's been nothing but a superstar and has given his all to the Pittsburgh Penguins since the day he stepped off the plane in the United States.
Just like we will once 87 hangs from the rafters at PPG Paints Arena when 71 joins him, we'll tell stories of how Evgeni Malkin truly was score.
