It was like old times for Evgeni Malkin.
The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar bulled his way past Nick Bonino down the slot during the opening stages of a practice session in Cranberry on Monday, as was often the case a decade ago.
The only difference was that Bonino wasn’t wearing a practice jersey. Instead, he donned a tracksuit as he is currently a coach with the club and no longer Malkin’s teammate.
Still, the 39-year-old Malkin looked every bit as dominant and aggressive in a practice setting as he did when he was 29. During a two-on-two drill, he connected with reserve defenseman Connor Clifton for a goal against goaltender Arturs Silovs. And he even managed to keep up with forward Ville Koivunen while chasing down the spry rookie on a breakaway attempt.
Sidelined by an apparent shoulder injury for the better part of six weeks, Malkin participated in a practice in a full-contact fashion for the first time since he left the lineup in early December.
“Best feeling, you know?” Malkin said of being on the ice with teammates. “You have more fun. When you skate alone, it’s not great. But good day for me. Tough a little bit, but again, I’m happy to be back with the team, enjoy (being) with (teammates). One more practice tomorrow, and I hope (to be back) this week.”
Currently designated to injured reserve, Malkin could potentially return to his team’s lineup for a home game against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, though coach Dan Muse stopped short of even suggesting that as a possibility.
Malkin’s last game was a spectacular display. During a rollicking 4-3 road win against the powerful Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 4, Malkin had two goals and an assist, including the winning goal late in regulation.
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Then… he was gone.
From the lineup. Not the planet, to be certain.
Per outlets with the team on Dec. 6, the Penguins labeled his absence from a practice session in Farmers Branch, Texas that day as for “maintenance” purposes.
After being scratched for a 3-2 road loss to the Dallas Stars on Dec. 7, he he was placed on injured reserve Dec. 9 with an ailment that was undisclosed at the time and termed as “week-to-week.”
Malkin offered a candid timeline of how his malady unfolded following Tuesday’s practice.
“It’s like, crazy,” Malkin said. “Because I’m not feeling any pain after (the) game. But next morning, I wake up and like, my upper body, I can’t move my shoulder, it’s crazy. Slow every day, like, we feel day by day and I’m back, but I can’t move my arm. It’s a little bit tough. I do my best. I work out, recovery every day, but it’s not easy. It’s (a) weird injury, but not crazy. It’s small things, but it’s annoying. Every day it’s like, pain. And again, last couple of weeks, I do lots of stuff. Last probably three or four days, I feel so much better. And again, I hope (to be) back this week. I feel so nice after the Tampa game, we win, I score a couple of goals. But then, next day, I do not feel great.”
The Penguins weren’t exactly great in his absence, at least immediately.
Starting with his first game as a scratch, the Penguins went through an ugly eight-game losing streak. But they’ve managed to pull the nose up as of late, having won six of their past seven games, including an ongoing five-game winning streak, a season best.
At the mid-way point of the season — exactly 41 games in — the Penguins have a 20-12-9 record and 49 points. Entering Tuesday, they sat in the second Wild Card seeding of the Eastern Conference.
Not many expected the rebuilding Penguins to be a postseason contender.
Consider Malkin to be part of the vocal minority.
“I tell you before, we have a great team,” Malkin boasted. “We have good guys here. We have a tough seven or eight games before, but now we’re back. It’s a little bit up and down right now, but right now, last couple games, guys play amazing.
“When we play right, when we play smart, we can beat any team. We showed (that the) last five games. We play amazing.”
During Malkin’s respite, the team added another Russian to the mix by acquiring forward Yegor Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 29. In three games with the Penguins, Chinakhov has two points (one goal, one assist) while largely skating on the third line.
Malkin likes what he sees in the 25-year-old Chinakhov.
“He’s young, he’s really talented,” Malkin said. “We know what’s going on in Columbus. He (did) not (have a) great year, probably. But now I hope, (now that) he changed teams, like, change his mind. We see he scored already one goal. If coach (uses) him, right, give him more time, probably, he (will) show (his) best, for sure.”
Malkin looked to be at his best on Tuesday, at least over the past six weeks.
“I don’t know if you could tell out there but he was buzzing,” Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon said. “It’s exciting to get him back. We’re excited to have him back. He’s a huge part of our team. Hopefully, he can play this week and we can get moving.”
Malkin seems intent on continuing to move in the direction that led to him starting out with 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in his first 26 games of the season.
“Nothing’s changed,” Malkin said. “You see, we fight every game for playoffs, every team is close. It’s (41) games left. Just play all of them. We have (a) long break, Olympic break (in February). Be smart, recover your body, still (be) working.
“And after February, it’s (a) big run for us, for sure. Because this year, every team has a chance to make playoffs, for sure.”