Evgeni Malkin Leads His Pens To Victory
Whether it’s sheer luck or if there is really something to it, Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin always seems to pick up his game when his parents come to visit from Russia.
Last season when they were in town Malkin who scored 106 points, picked up 15 points in five games.
On Tuesday night with them back in town, Malkin who currently leads the NHL scoring race with 95 points scored the opening goal in the first period and eventually netted the shootout winner in what was an important 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers.
“I did something different because I did not score the last time,” Malkin who this season was 1for 4 in shootouts said.
“I practiced my move a couple of times (in practice) and it worked good.”
The Penguins have picked the perfect time to go on a streak as they have now won seven consecutive games and with 78 points have moved past the Panthers in occupying the sixth seed in the tight Eastern Conference. They are now one win shy of their longest winning streak since winning eight straight from December 23, 2007 to January 10, 2008.
Besides for Malkin, the Penguins Kris Letang also scored in the shootout.
“The shootout is a lottery,” said Vokoun who was stellar in making 47 saves. “He (Letang) made a nice move in the first one and I kind of froze. I tried to throw a poke check at him (Malkin), but he made a good play.”
The Panthers who lost to the Penguins for the second time in six days tried to remain positive about gaining what was an important point.
“It’s a big point this time of the year, but we had the opportunity to get two and you get greedy this time of the year,” Panthers rookie coach Peter DeBoer said.
With that point, Florida now has 77 points and are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference
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Neil Becker weighs in with his weekly Around The Rink Article here at Capperspicks.com
One reply on “NHL Handicapping: Around The Rink”
NHL hockey is one of those sports where a team like the Penguins can get hot at the right time and make a deep run into the playoffs. Home ice advanatge is minimal as most series come down to whose goalie is playing the best.