The Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves in a 2-0 hole to the Edmonton Oilers after the first period, on home ice no less. That simply wouldn’t do for Evgeni Malkin.
Just 48 seconds into the second period, Malkin took it upon himself to get the Penguins’ scoring attack back on track. The big forward first stripped defenseman Oscar Klefbom from behind, taking the puck right off his stick before cutting back for the Oilers’ zone. Malkin then faked like he was cutting to the middle before baffling both blueliner Mark Fayne and Oilers goalie Anders Nilsson with a stunning spin-o-rama right into a flawless backhand shot.
Evgeni Malkin is spectacular. https://t.co/lrL8Z0Oved
— NHL (@NHL) November 29, 2015
Oh me, oh my. It doesn’t get any cleaner or more deadly than that.
Then Malkin went ahead and scored the game-tying goal not even three minutes later.
The Russian center has continually showed that he can be great just about any time he wants to be. He’s been playing angry a lot this year due to the Penguins’ falling short of their expectations for much of this season in terms of goal scoring. When Malkin’s playing with a little extra fire, it’s usually bad news for the opposing team.
Malkin now has 11 goals this season, with that spinning backhander right at the top of the annual highlight reel.
