3 Periods: Evgeni Malkin's production picks up after 4 Nations break

Evgeni Malkin entered 2024-25 having appeared in all of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ games the last two seasons, achieving perfect attendance in back-to-back campaigns for only the second time in his 19-year career.

Not since the Penguins’ first two Stanley Cup runs in 2007-08 and 2008-09 had Malkin managed to appear in each of his club’s regular-­season contests.

But in early January, Malkin’s streak of 209 consecutive games played came to an end.

Later in the month, Malkin endured a stint on injured reserve, missing a further six games because of a knee injury.

At that point, Malkin’s production was down considerably as he’d managed only nine goals and 25 assists in 47 games.

However, since Malkin returned to action after the 4 Nations Face-Off break, he’s totaled three goals with four assists over his last four games.

Not to mention, Malkin was the Penguins’ hero in Thursday night’s overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers as he scored the winning goal in the extra period, tied things up in the third period and had a pair of assists, as well.

That left Malkin with 12 goals and 41 points through the first 51 games of his age 38 season.

Here’s a look at how his production this year compares to the other times he played at least 51 games in the last decade. (Malkin did not eclipse 51 games played in 2021-22 or 2020-21.)

2023-24: 16 goals, 25 assists, 41 points

Malkin finished with 27 goals and 40 assists in 82 games, which would represent solid production for the vast majority of NHLers. For Malkin, those end-of-year figures (0.82 points per game) constituted a down year.

2022-23: 17 goals, 34 assists, 51 points

Two seasons ago, Malkin finished with 83 points (27 goals, 56 assists) in 82 games, eclipsing a point per game for the 15th time in his 19 NHL seasons.

2019-20: 24 goals, 48 assists, 72 points

Malkin was limited to 55 games by injury but finished with 74 points.

2018-19: 14 goals, 35 assists, 49 points

Malkin finished with 23 points in his last 17 games to again surpass the point-per-game mark.

2017-18: 33 goals, 38 assists, 71 points

Malkin played 78 games and finished with 98 points, just shy of what would have been his fourth 100-point campaign. It was the last season in which the Penguins managed to win a playoff series.

2016-17: 27 goals, 34 assists, 61 points

In the second of the Penguins’ two straight Stanley Cup-winning seasons, Malkin played in only 62 regular-season games. He finished with 33 goals and 72 points.

2015-16: 24 goals, 29 assists, 53 points

En route to a Stanley Cup championship over the San Jose Sharks, Malkin was again limited in the regular season, this time suiting up for 57 games. He finished with 58 points.