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Malkin is earning title Most Valuable Penguin

BY ARTHUR STAPLE | arthur.staple@newsday.com

April 30, 2008

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There was no small coincidence in the announcement earlier yesterday that Penguins center Evgeni Malkin was named one of three finalists for the Hart Trophy, given to the league's most valuable player.

Malkin reinforced that nomination last night, scoring two killer power-play goals, chipping in an assist and winning a faceoff that led to another goal to lead the Penguins to their 5-3 victory in Game 3, as he did through most of the year, especially when Sidney Crosby was sidelined by a severely sprained ankle. Malkin has the winning goal in two of the three games of this series, and set up the other one in staking Pittsburgh to a dominating 3-0 lead.

"It just shows he's been consistent throughout the year," Crosby said of Malkin. "I'm definitely proud of him."

The 21-year-old Russian scored on two blasts from the point, and the second one was the real dagger. After the Rangers rallied to tie the game at 3 and had the young Penguins scrambling around in a raucous Madison Square Garden, Ryan Hollweg's ill-timed boarding penalty gave the Penguins a power play with 4:04 left in the second.

Malkin, parked at the right point, helped move the puck around and wear out the Rangers' penalty killers. A pass from Crosby skipped off Ryan Callahan to Malkin, who faked a shot to get Martin Straka out of the way and then ripped a shot off the far post and behind Henrik Lundqvist with 2:07 left in the period.

The goal let the air out of the building, and the Rangers were deflated.

"It was obviously a huge goal for us," said Ryan Malone, who tipped in Kris Letang's shot early in the third to provide the final margin. "As you heard, the momentum was definitely changing for them and the place was getting into it. We've faced some adversity all year and we battled through it."

Led mostly by Malkin, who finished second in the league in scoring with 106 points during the regular season and now leads all playoff scorers with 13 points, including a team-high five goals, four of them on the power play.

"I was just delivering the puck to the net," Malkin said in Russian, with translation from teammate Sergei Gonchar. "We have four forwards moving around well in front of the net, moving the puck around. That's why we get such good chances."

Some of it has to do with that mammoth shot of his. He scored the Game 1 winner off his knee from a Crosby slapshot, but Malkin manages to find time and space at the point, probably because penalty killers are a little gun-shy to throw themselves in front of his fastball.

"You just try to see it and hope it doesn't hit you," Malone said. "You want to let it fly by, because it's going to hurt."

Malkin will likely be nudged out for the Hart by the Caps' Alexander Ovechkin, but Washington is done. Malkin's Penguins are poised for a second straight sweep and a trip to the Eastern Conference final, thanks in large part to his whole body of work from October on.

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