Kovacevic: Malkin's maturation, motivation showing in his motor taken at PPG Paints Arena (DK's 10 Takes)

JOE SARGENT / GETTY

Evgeni Malkin and the Hurricanes' Jaccob Slavin duel for a puck Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena.

Evgeni Malkin's been publicly silent for a while now. It's no secret why.

The government and military of his native Russia remains engaged in an unprovoked, unimaginable assault on Ukraine that's dominated global headlines the past couple weeks. Undoubtedly, that's dominated his own thoughts, as well. Just as undoubtedly, if he were to meet with reporters, he'd feel compelled -- or one of us would ask him -- to share those thoughts. And beyond undoubtedly, given his blunt nature, he'd risk saying something that'd put him or his family or friends in danger.

Ask Artemi Panarin how that goes, right?

No way. Just no way.

Not that anyone would or should be affected, but that stance is fine by me. I don't care what professional athletes think about war. I prefer my intake from heads of state, military experts, journalists on the scene and, above all, those directly affected. However long that list might get, it'll never add a hockey player on the opposite side of the planet.

That's all that Evgeni Vladimirovich Malkin is. He's a hockey player. A great one in his prime. Still a really, really good one. And maybe, just maybe more committed to the team concept than ever.

And that right there's where I'll lead off on this snowy Sunday at PPG Paints Arena, where the Penguins staved off the Hurricanes, 4-2.

A lot of times in this sports-writing business, we'll choose a main subject based at least in part on which players are made available to media. That's been doubly true in pandemic times with locker rooms still closed. I've done more of this than I'm comfortable confessing, even changing my main subject when a certain player wasn't made available.

But we're now at eight games since Geno's last public words Feb. 23 -- the day before the Russian invasion -- and it's fair to say he's been nothing less than his team's strongest, most consistent performer in that span. Not so much for the four goals and three assists but, rather, for the broader approach he's taken all over the rink.

I'll have a tough time quantifying this, so let's start with this seemingly nondescript shift from this game:

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Don't be disappointed. I did promise nondescript.

But it's efficient, too. And smart. And with its fair share of grit and grime along the boards. Five touches, all Ws, not one allowing the Hurricanes a chance to breathe much less attack. Marked it down as soon as he skated off.

This one's a lot less nondescript:

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That's a trademark gaining of the zone, then an overwhelming of Carolina's Jaccob Slavin, one of the NHL's legit elite defensemen, before Evan Rodrigues, Mike Matheson and Danton Heinen took care of the rest. Geno didn't even get an assist.

I brought this up with Mike Sullivan afterward.

"I thought Geno made a couple of huge plays on the goal," he'd reply. "It was Danton who scored, but I thought Geno made that play, just keeping that puck alive and the second effort. That's the power game that he's capable of. He's got a long reach, and he's so strong on pucks. That particular goal was an example of it. It just shows you what Geno's capable of when he's on top of his game. It's hard for people to get it away from him when he's using his frame and skill sets. And from there, he usually makes players around him better because he has the ability to see them and get them the puck."

I asked Heinen, one of those players around him for a month now, about that, too.

"I think you can see he can play kind of that game," he'd reply. "He gets a little fired up, maybe, and he's a big body, can protect the puck while creating stuff out of nothing. It's good to see."

It happened throughout. Often without a principal objective of scoring. In fact, it'd appear at times as if he'd taken the subservient role to Rodrigues and Heinen, digging pucks out for those guys rather than the other way around. And it'd be fairer to rewind to his early-January return in Anaheim and stress that, on top of his 24 points in as many games, he's recorded a 53.37 Corsi For percentage at five-on-five, third among the team's forwards in that time behind Heinen and Dominik Simon.

I've got to say: In 17 years of observing this amazing individual, I've not seen him adopt this approach except for the shortest stretches.

Again, I'll apply the term committed, because it feels right. Geno's 35. He's nearing the end of his current contract, looking at signing his last and, in the competitive sense, pushing toward a fourth Stanley Cup ring with maybe his last time together with the Core that's shared the first three. Then there's fatherhood. And what's happening overseas.

I'd spoken with the man for years -- before the pandemic, when we could do that one-on-one -- about seeking out a 2.0 phase to extend his brilliant career. I dropped the names of fellow Russians like Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Datsyuk, both of whom aged gracefully and across all 200 feet of ice. And he'd always respond by suggesting it wouldn't take much. He'd need his legs, he'd need his sensibilities, and he'd need that feel that another Cup can be had.

He's at quite the crossroads, and I don't need to ask to figure out if he's fine with it.

• For the record, Malkin's a U.S. citizen. He confirmed that for us in the fall of 2019. And his son, Nikita, was born right here in Pittsburgh, between Games 1 and 2 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. He also retains his Russian citizenship, but the U.S. allows for the retention of dual citizenships.

• Never take the captain for granted:

Sidney Crosby's rink-length empty-net goal with 1:39 left, which proved to be the game-winner once Carolina scored later to move back within one, extended his points streak to nine games, a stretch in which he's got six goals and six assists.

I offer this respectfully, but it still doesn't feel like a classic Sid tear, does it?

• I'm aware of the analytics behind goaltenders getting pulled earlier than ever, but man, I'm sorry, Rod Brind'Amour's lineup deserves more of a chance than most to overcome a one-goal deficit at five-on-five. He's got no business handing Pittsburgh's shooters an empty net until he needs to.

• After two one-goal losses to the Hurricanes, the NHL's No. 1 team alongside the Avalanche, the Penguins clearly made it a priority to take the regular-season finale.

"We had two really close games with them before, and I think we wanted to make this one count," Tristan Jarry would say after his 40 saves. "It was kind of our last crack at them, and we didn't want to lose a third one to them. It meant a lot, just because we might play them in the playoffs, just to have that grit in our game and play a full 60 minutes."

There was grit aplenty, and there were 60 minutes. But, as Sullivan conceded, "I thought in the third period, in particular, we didn't force them to have to defend us enough," referring to the Hurricanes running up 9 of the first 10 shots. "And that's just one area where I know we can get better. But the first two periods, we had some offensive zone time where we did get to that. And when we did, I think that's the type of game we want to try to play."

• Overall, the Hurricanes outshot the Penguins, 43-22, and out-attempted them, 71-32. That's a lousy look on the surface, but the official high-danger chances were 16-8 for Carolina, and I can't recall even that many.

To be sure, Jarry was sharp, notably on this terrific toe stop on Sebastian Aho amid a second-period power play:

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But the Penguins' more prominent trait, as Jarry himself allowed, was keeping the Hurricanes to the perimeter.

"There were a lot of shots, but I don't think there were many second opportunities," he'd say. "I think the guys did a great job boxing out and getting to rebounds."

• Brind'Amour saw it the same way from behind the Carolina bench, saying of Jarry, "He played great. He made some big saves for them. He didn't have a bunch of tough ones, I don't think, but he certainly was really good when he had to be, especially early. We had a couple odd-man rushes early in the game, and he had to make a couple saves. We kind of had to chase the game, and I don't want to say that they sat on the lead, but they didn't have to do anything because they were ahead. It was a good effort. I'm not disappointed at all with the way we played."

• Jarry nearly sent the city into a collective seizure with this decision:

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Now, lucky for everyone that Derek Stepan missed badly. He's no Josh Bailey.

"That kind of rolled on me," Jarry explained. "I didn't really see much, so I just wanted to put something high up the middle. And that second wave of players was able to get something, and they brought it back on us."

Yeah, no. He can't say this, but I can: Kris Letang was slow getting back, then, once he'd left that rolling puck for Jarry to retrieve, didn't make himself available for the outlet. So Jarry just tried to whack it out.

No harm, no relapse.

Brian Boyle had the other non-empty-netter, in addition to another sound showing for him and the fourth line, alongside Teddy Blueger and Zach Aston-Reese. Taylor Haase has that.

• I'd written after the two losses to Carolina that the Penguins needed to fare far better in keeping the puck in the attacking zone, but that only came consistently in this game from the fourth line.

"I thought that line in particular was really good in the offensive zone," Sullivan would say. "They're hard on pucks. They're hard on people. Carolina plays a pretty hard man-on-man game, so, if you can beat your check, you might get an opportunity."

More's needed.

• I don't like scratching Marcus Pettersson. At all.

To his credit, Sullivan didn't come close to criticizing Pettersson's play, instead rightly praising that of Mark Friedman: "We have seven defensemen here, and we can only put six in the lineup. I thought Frieds has played a couple of really solid games and was deserving of staying in the lineup. So there's a healthy competition amongst our group in all the positions. These are difficult decisions. They're not easy. Marcus has played a lot of good hockey for us, as well."

He sure has. Better than John Marino. Much better than Brian Dumoulin, who took his standard spot next to Marino. And by the way, no one was worse on this day than Chad Ruhwedel, who was on the ice for 12 Carolina shots to the Penguins' two.

Keep 'em rotating, maybe?

• As long as I'm at it, why wasn't Valtteri Puustinen here?

• Friedman drew two Carolina minors, both legit calls, meaning he's averaging 2.8 minutes in penalties drawn per 60 minutes, seventh-most in the NHL. Brandon Tanev used to do that, and it's a trait that's been missed.

• Boyle had a semi-bold response when asked about beating a team of Carolina's caliber.

"I think we could beat any team, really, when we're playing the way we're capable," he'd reply. "And we want to continue to do that and get better, because it gets harder as the season progresses. The game changes a little bit. It's a lot stingier. Every month, there's a lot less free space on the ice. Emotions run higher, so I think there's a lot more discipline in how you play, how you conduct yourself. I think a game like today was a great test for that."

So I looked this up, and the Penguins have beaten all of the NHL's top 10 teams at least once, with the exception of the Avalanche, who they haven't faced yet, and the Flames. And to the latter, they took a point in Calgary in a 2-1 shootout loss Nov. 29.

Overall, against the current top 10 teams, they're 9-5-4.

Any arguments?

• Thanks for reading, as always!

photoCaption-photoCredit

DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS

Snow along Fifth Avenue, Uptown, outside PPG Paints Arena, Sunday afternoon.

THE ESSENTIALS

Boxscore
Live file
Scoreboard
• 
Standings
• 
Statistics
• Schedule

THE THREE STARS

As selected at PPG Paints Arena:

1. Brian Boyle, Penguins LW
2. Tristan Jarry, Penguins G
3. Zach Aston-Reese, Penguins RW

THE HIGHLIGHTS

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THE INJURIES

Brock McGinn, left winger, injured his right wrist Friday and is considered week-to-week. 

Jason Zucker, left winger, has been on IR since undergoing core muscle surgery Jan. 25. He's skating.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Heinen-Malkin-Rodrigues

Zohorna-Carter-Kapanen
Boyle-Blueger-Aston-Reese

Matheson-Letang
Dumoulin-Marino
Friedman-Ruhwedel

And for Brind'Amour's Hurricanes:

Teravainen-Aho-Necas
Svechnikov-Trocheck-Martinook
Niederreiter-Staal-Fast
Lorentz-Kotkaniemi-Stepan 

Slavin-Bear
Skjei-Pesce
Cole-Chatfield

THE SCHEDULE

The team practices Monday, noon, in Cranberry, then embarks on a three-game trip through Nashville, St. Louis and Glendale.

THE CONTENT

Visit our team page for everything.

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