COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It was never in doubt that Evgeni Malkin's return to the lineup from knee surgery would make the Penguins a better hockey team.
But how much better could he make a club that recently went on a 10-game winning-streak without him?
Well, quite a bit, as it turned out.
It's easy to forget, but Malkin finished third in the NHL in points per hour as recently as the 2019-20 regular season, and added five points in four games while essentially playing on one knee during the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Concerns about how he'd perform upon return weren't unwarranted. A major surgery for a typical 35-year old -- especially one that has a lengthy injury history -- might often spell the beginning of the end.
Then again, Malkin is anything but typical.
He found the back of the net twice, added an assist, and was on the ice for all four of the Penguins' goals in his season debut Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif., a 4-1 victory over the Ducks. He also attempted six shots, three of which were scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.
While it was great to see him rack up a multi-point performance in his first game back, it was even greater to see the way he commanded the puck and dictated the team's attack:
Toward the end of a shift, Malkin received a pass through the neutral zone from Kasperi Kapanen and worked his way to the middle of the ice. Malkin opted to wait for support on both flanks instead of attacking the defender one-on-one, and made every indication he would pass. As the defenders geared for a pass, Malkin instantaneously moved the puck to his hip-pocket to create his own shooting-lane right down Broadway.
His attempt was off the mark, but I was dazzled by his poise to hang onto the puck, as well as his intellect to create space for himself.
With Malkin on the ice at five-on-five, the Penguins out-attempted the Ducks, 18-11, and out-chanced them, 11-3, on their way to controlling just over 60% of the expected goals.
Even when he was seemingly contained by Anaheim, he problem-solved and found ways to make something out of nothing:
Malkin received a puck along the right wing boards in transition. By the time he gained the offensive zone, Anaheim's defender nearly had him sealed off, so instead of trying to power through him, Malkin gently put the puck off the boards for his trailer, Jake Guentzel. The pass, though simple at a glance, required a certain finesse that only the best of the best possess. Not only that, but pay special attention to the way Malkin turned his body to protect the puck from the defender as he made the pass.
After dropping the puck off, Malkin continued his pursuit into the zone, dragging a defender with him all the way to the net. The weak-side defender stepped up on Guentzel, who then flipped a backhand pass across the ice to Brian Dumoulin for a chance.
The Penguins' power play was obviously boosted by Malkin's cannon of a shot that gave him his first marker of the season, but his impact on gaining the zone and setting up shop can't be overstated:
On the power play, Malkin was fed a pass right along the blue line without any puck support from his teammates. Rather than forcibly gaining the zone only to be stymied by the penalty-killer, Malkin stayed above the blue line and worked his way to the middle of the ice until he had a passing lane.
Eventually, the Penguins worked the puck to Malkin up top. It was nearly identical to the setup of his first goal, except this time, Malkin drew so much attention from the penalty-killers that they left Sidney Crosby wide-open at the circle to Malkin's right. Malkin darted a pass along the ice to Crosby, whose one-timer wouldn't go.
Though Malkin did appear a bit tender at times, he certainly didn't shy away from contact to keep the puck out of harm's way:
As the Penguins were facing pressure in the corner to the left of Tristan Jarry, Malkin turned his body to get the puck out in front, as well as to create separation between the puck and the forechecker. He then initiated contact with the forechecker, creating further separation from the puck and preventing himself from being the one who got knocked off balance. As he did so, he pushed a pass to his defenseman, Mike Matheson, who eventually got the puck to Chad Ruhwedel. Ruhwedel sprung Kapanen for a breakaway that got turned aside, but it also led to another chance -- all a result of the big man getting physical in the dirty areas.
Malkin's overall defensive play isn't, and never has been spectacular, but the approach he takes tends to create quick-strike opportunities the other way. Instead of generally staying in the middle of the ice in the defensive zone, Malkin tends to play as more of a rover, doing fly-bys and looking to hop in and out of passing lanes in hopes of picking the puck off:
Right as Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf scooped the puck in the corner, Malkin recognized the pressure from his defenseman John Marino and angled Getzlaf so that his only options were to try and force a pass through Malkin, or get swarmed by Marino.
Getzlaf tried the pass, but Malkin blocked it with his skate and kicked the puck to the blade of his stick all in the same motion. Because of the angle Malkin took on Getzlaf, he already had momentum taking him up ice and was able to feed Kapanen quickly. They overlapped through the neutral zone before Kapanen dropped it back off to Malkin along the right side. He made a pretty move around the defender to get to the middle, but Kapanen couldn't get out of his way in time and they were swarmed.
Of course, there are risks associated with looking to get out of your own zone a little too soon:
On a bit of a broken play, Malkin noticed the Ducks had two forwards who fell to the ice below the Penguins' goal line. In most cases, the center would swing with the puck and support the play in the corner, but Malkin figured it to be an opportunity to catch them sleeping, as he swung away from the puck to the opposite side of the ice.
The Penguins weren't the first to the puck, though, and Malkin had to cut back to take up some of the ocean's worth of space in the middle of the ice. Anaheim worked the puck up top as Malkin took another poor route, electing to glide out of position when he should have hit the brakes. Anaheim was then able to move the puck toward the front of the net, and as Malkin recovered from his poor route, his clearing attempt ended up right on the stick of Jakob Silfverberg, who wasn't missing from that spot.
Malkin's tendency to ride his momentum rather than hard-stopping in certain instances in the defensive zone undoubtedly allows him to counter-punch in quick fashion, but it can also lead to breakdowns like this. If he had stopped in the slot initially, he likely has a much better chance of clearing the puck instead of putting it on the opposition's blade.
Lastly, there's the turnovers that come with the territory of trying to make a brilliant play when it simply isn't there:
Neither turnover -- the chest-high stretch-pass or the one-hander up the middle -- resulted in anything imminently dangerous and the Penguins were able to get out unscathed.
Eventually, one of those turnovers will end up in the back of the net, but it's overwhelmingly likely that he'll have already made up for it with contributions elsewhere.
Even considering his mistakes, Malkin's return to the lineup proved that his time as an elite NHLer isn't done. Not even close. There will be hiccups along the way as he gets more games under his belt, but the rest of the league should start getting a little concerned about the potential of this Penguins team.
