TAMPA, Fla. -- Mike Sullivan said that Evgeni Malkin was in "beast mode."
It was the third period, and the bear had been poked after some physical battles and chippiness in the first two frames.
Malkin took that energy and used it to score a very quintessential Geno goal, the culmination of his entry for the shift of the year in the Penguins' 5-1 win in Tampa on Thursday.
Malkin flattened Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare along the boards. The Lightning recovered the puck, and Bellemare gained possession and tried skating it into the Penguins' zone. Malkin used his body to bully Bellemare into a turnover. Danton Heinen had the puck, and Malkin -- left wide open -- started skating toward the Lightning's end.
With all the time in the world, Malkin carried the puck in on a breakaway, and rang it off the post and in behind Andrei Vasilevskiy for his 10th goal of the season, putting the Penguins up 4-1:
It was his third point of the game, after also recording assists on goals from Heinen and Sidney Crosby in the first period. His six shots on goal led the team, and his nine shot attempts tied Bryan Rust for the team lead.
The Penguins-heavy crowd broke into loud "Geno! Geno!" chants after that one.
"I thought that was Geno's best game of the year to this point," Sullivan said. "I felt like with each game he's getting better and better. Tonight, I thought he was just in beast mode, the way he commanded the puck and it just followed him around. That's when you know when he's at his best."
When Malkin was on the ice at five-on-five, the Penguins controlled 64.29 percent of all shot attempts, 68.18 percent of all unblocked shot attempts, 64.29 percent of all shots on goal, and of course 100% of the goals scored.
Malkin's ability to make plays like the ones above to regain possession, and then maintain possession once he has it, went a long way toward those on-ice results.
"I think he had the puck on his stick for like, nine minutes," Rust said of Malkin's game. "That just pretty much says it all. When he has the puck and he's doing what he's capable of, and he's confident, I think other teams should watch out. Because he's been awesome."
"Awesome" might be an understatement for shifts like the one Malkin had tonight.