A day after a brutal turnover of his led to a short-handed goal and he plummeted to minus-20 for the season, Evgeni Malkin acknowledged he is not happy with his play.
“No, no,” the Pittsburgh Penguins star center said. “For sure not. I’m frustrated with myself.”
Malkin remains a point-per-game player with 14 goals and 39 assists in 49 games this season. But Malkin has just seven five-on-five goals, with only three since October (39 games).
Just 40 players across the NHL have allowed opponents more even-strength shot attempts when they are on the ice this season than Malkin, and giveaways like the one that punctuated a 6-3 loss to New Jersey on Monday have seemed to creep up all too often.
“It’s a tough, tough period for me, but I won’t look back,” Malkin said. “I’ll play the right way next game and do the small things that can help the team. And I know my (standard), I know I am a good player. I just want my game back. I’m trying in practice, and I’m trying in the game. Sometimes I do the wrong play. But it’s a long season, and I don’t look back and I’ll be back.”
Keep up with the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long.
Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.
