Prior to Friday's overtime loss, the Russian-native had a 13-game home point streak that ran from Oct. 20-Dec. 14, collecting 21 points (5G-16A) during the stretch. Malkin tallied three points (1G-2A) in a Pens' 7-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena to regenerate his dominance at home.
Malkin one-timed a Chris Kunitz pass from inside the right circle past Rangers netminder Antti Raanta 4:43 in the second period to put the Pens up 2-1.
"It was a good pass from 'Kuni,'" Malkin said. "We had a good change. (Nick) Bonino changed and I jumped to get fresh legs to play offensive zone. Phil Kessel passed to me, I passed to 'Kuni' and 'Kuni' got in the offensive zone and made a good pass to me. I didn't look to the net, I just shot and it was a harder shot and it ended up going in."
After tallying the goal and assists on both Kessel's and Justin Schultz's goals, Malkin has 27 points (7G-20A) in 16 of 18 home games this season.
The three-point night comes after a line mix-up for Malkin. Patric Hornqvist was slotted in as the right wing alongside Kunitz and Malkin for the Metropolitan Division matchup.
"'Kuni' and 'Horny' have played together since I've been here on and off," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "Most of the time, it's been with (Sidney Crosby), but we thought we'd try it with 'Geno'. Those guy are really good on the forecheck, they can help get the puck back. 'Geno' is a guy that really likes to carry the puck through the neutral zone. The other two guys don't really want it in the neutral zone, so 'Geno's' that guy.
"He wants the puck, he can carry the puck through the neutral zone and make the plays while those other guys do the grunt work down low for him to help keep the puck. We think it helps him create offense different ways and not just off the rush."
Malkin especially enjoyed playing with Hornqvist.
"I know him very well," Malkin said. "He's a great guy and a great player. He works hard every game. We talked before the game and said to just play hard, good forecheck, pressure the D, play in the offensive zone, just play simple and play hard. I think it worked."
The abundance of points, not just for Malkin, but the entire team, was a confidence booster for a squad which scored just one goal in the last two contests.
"It's more fun if you score more goals," Malkin said. "The last two games we played, we scored one goal in a game. It's a good game for all of us. We played 5-on-5, power play, PK, everything worked tonight. I'm glad we won against the Rangers … The Rangers are a good team, but we were better tonight."
