Malkin Looking Like Vintage Geno

A couple weeks before Evgeni Malkin made his season debut earlier this year, he pointed out what happened the last time he had a significant knee injury.
"I came back and had my best year," he said. "I look forward, I look the same way. I have a tough six months, but look forward."
And it's such a credit to Malkin that even though 10 years have passed since he piled up 50 goals and 109 points in that 2011-12 season, and he's coming off a major surgery, he's still producing at such an elite level.

Malkin recorded a hat trick and added an assist in Pittsburgh's 11-2 win over Detroit on Sunday to give him 16 goals and 32 points in just 30 games since entering the lineup on Jan. 11 in Anaheim.
"I think he worked extremely hard to get himself in the position to return to play," Mike Sullivan said. "He deserves so much credit for the effort and the commitment that he put in. That rehab process was long and tedious, and Geno worked extremely hard at it to try to get back as quickly as he could for our team."
And with each game that he plays, the Penguins head coach feels like Malkin is getting better and better. The 35-year-old superstar is aging like fine wine, and last night, he looked like vintage Geno.
"Geno, in my mind, is one of the greatest players of all time - not just of his generation," Sullivan said before adamantly repeating, "He's one of the greatest players of all time. When he's at his best, he's one of the few players that can take a game over. We're fortunate we have a couple of them on our team. But he's a generational talent, as is Sid."
Mr. NHL 101 found the back of the net a couple of times with his wicked slapshot - once on the power play (with the help of a double deflection) in the second period, and again at even strength in the third period.
But it was the second goal of the trio that was by far the best. Bryan Rust, who's been playing with Malkin for a few games now and has provided a stabilizing force to the line with his two-way ability, dropped a pass to his centerman at the blue line. From there, Malkin went to work.
He just completely danced by Detroit's defense, starting when he stickhandled the puck to himself through Sam Gagner's outstretched stick and continued on his way. Malkin then juked around Adam Erne with a nifty maneuver before snapping a shot short-side from the hash marks to beat Alex Nedeljkovic.
"He's so fun to watch," winger Danton Heinen said. "I mean, just unbelievable skill. It looks like he really wants the puck right now. It seems like he's making high-end plays every time he has it."
What makes Malkin's performance even more impressive is that he was feeling under the weather, as he had to miss Friday's game at Madison Square Garden and Saturday's practice with a non-COVID illness. He was a literal game-time decision, with Sullivan saying they weren't sure if he would be able to play.
Having a player of his caliber back for Tuesday's rematch with the Rangers is going to be a huge boost for the Penguins following their disappointing 5-1 loss the other night.
"The way he's playing right now… no one loves to score more than him," Sullivan said. "You can see his raw emotion when he scores. I think he gained so much confidence off of his ability to generate offense and score goals. So we're hopeful that he'll just build more confidence, and his game will continue to grow and improve. It'll help us create the balance that we need through our lineup, and we're that much more dangerous when he's in our lineup."