Malkin turning longer offseason into fast start for Penguins

TORONTO -- Evgeni Malkin was on a mission.

Elimination at the hands of the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Second Round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs meant an early offseason for Pittsburgh Penguins center and teammates.
Malkin, who turned 32 on July 31, put that extra time to good use, embarking on an intense training schedule with strength and conditioning coach Alex Trinca that has helped him to a fast start this season. He has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 13 games.
"I'm trying to do my best," he said recently. "I feel good, I feel fresh, my legs are moving. Just have to stay at the same level."

Malkin will attempt to keep up that scoring pace when the Penguins (6-4-3) visit the Capitals (6-4-3) at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS, SN). Pittsburgh will need all the help it can get from Malkin, Sidney Crosby and its other top players to snap a four-game losing streak (0-3-1).
Malkin said the early postseason exit served as motivation to improve.
"I had a great summer," he said. "I worked with Alex and we worked hard all summer. I also had a chance to rest more."
Malkin and his teammates had extra time to recharge their batteries after successful Stanley Cup runs in 2016 and 2017 that ran deep into June, leaving shorter offseasons.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said the change in Malkin is evident.
"I think the biggest difference this year is the work he put in the summer," Sullivan said. "He obviously had more time than usual during the offseason and he dedicated that time to training.

"His fitness level is the best that it has ever been in my tenure as coach here. That's really helped him sustain his pace, game in and game out. He's continuing to work at it in practice to sustain that pace. It's a big credit to him to have such dedication to his fitness in the summer."
The most noticeable change in Malkin's game is his skating. There seems to be more spring in his gait, more power in his lengthy stride, more fluidity when he cuts.
"He's skating really well," linemate Patric Hornqvist said. "It seems the puck is finding him. It all comes from confidence and his ability to skate out there. He's flying right now."
The same can't be said of a Pittsburgh team that has encountered an early-season speed bump. The Penguins are coming off back-to-back home losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils in which they've been cumulatively outscored 10-1.
Perhaps a date with the rival Capitals is the elixir the Penguins need to end their slump. Malkin had three points (one goal, two assists) in the only previous game between the teams this season, a 7-6 overtime victory in Pittsburgh on Oct. 4.
"Geno's a proud guy and a very competitive guy," Sullivan said of Malkin. "He gets up for big games. And obviously there's been a really good, strong rivalry between the Penguins and Capitals for obvious reasons. They've been strong organizations over the past decade during the careers of Geno and Sid and [Washington's Alex] Ovechkin and [Nicklas] Backstrom, who have been some of the more dominating players or their generation. They've established an elite rivalry with each other.
"I think there's an elite rivalry there and they get up for those games. Geno's no different."
The person who is the least surprised at Malkin's early-season success is Crosby.
"I think he's definitely playing at a high level, but I think we get spoiled at seeing that fairly often," Crosby said. "I think points are a product of that, but if he had three or four less I wouldn't think any differently of him. He's always playing at a high level."