The Ottawa Senators should have known long before their first-round playoff series with the Penguins that Evgeni Malkin is a pretty dangerous guy.

Hey, they watch the highlights shows. They scan the league-wide statistics every day. There likely was a reference or two to Malkin in some of their preseries scouting reports.

But, in the unlikely event anyone from Ottawa still doesn't realize the kind of impact Malkin can have, they might want to dust the scoresheets from Games 1 and 2, because his fingerprints are all over them.

He has averaged 20 minutes, 41 seconds of ice time, most of any Penguins forward. Has launched 12 shots at Senators goalie Martin Gerber, tying Marian Hossa for the team lead. Has been credited with seven hits, and compiled a plus-minus rating of plus-3.

And, oh yeah, has a goal and five assists, good for a league-high six points.

It's far too early for the playoff scoring race to be significant, but Malkin's production reflects the role he has played in the Penguins taking a 2-0 lead in the series, which resumes with Game 3 at 7:08 p.m. tomorrow in Ottawa.

It's hard for anyone not to be impressed by what he has done. Anyone, apparently, except Malkin, who pretty much shrugged off his achievements to date.

"We have many games to go," he said through interpreter George Birman. "I just want to help my team."

Precisely how many games the Penguins have left in their playoff run hasn't been determined; it could be as few as four, or as many as 26. Odds are, it will be somewhere between those extremes.

It also is likely that Malkin won't continue to put up three points in every game, as he has in the first two against Ottawa. He scored one goal and assisted on two others in the Penguins' 4-0 victory in Game 1, then contributed three assists in their 5-3 victory in Game 2.

"You can tell he's ready to play every night," teammate Jordan Staal said.

That wasn't the case at this time a year ago, when Malkin, physically and emotionally drained after his first winter in the NHL, was a non-factor in the Penguins' first-round loss to the Senators, even though he picked up four assists in five games.

The rigors of simply getting here (remember, he had to sneak away from a Russian national team just to join the Penguins) and playing an 82-game schedule for the first time clearly sapped him.

"He never had a schedule like this, 82 games," defenseman Sergei Gonchar said.

"You have to remember how he escaped the country, how tough it was in the beginning. Obviously, emotionally, it was tough."

Now, he has adjusted to the smaller rinks and more physical play of North America. He is getting comfortable with a culture that seemed too alien a year or so ago and has had an offseason to train and prepare for the NHL grind.

"I feel pretty strong," Malkin said. "I had a great summer and tried to get myself ready before the season started. I feel good. "

Good enough that coach Michel Therrien can rely on him in every conceivable circumstance. Malkin not only takes a regular shift, but kills penalties and is a fixture on the No. 1 power play.

Aside from an inability to win more than every third or fourth faceoff, Malkin's game has no significant flaws, but it is his diverse offensive talents that make him so valuable.

"He's got speed, he's got size and he's a strong guy," center Sidney Crosby said. "He uses that size, he's got great hands, he uses his shot.

"There are a lot of ways he can beat you. He moves the puck. He's a good playmaker. When you have a great shot and you're a great playmaker, something's going to be there."

While Malkin's passing ability is extraordinary -- he set Petr Sykora up with two essentially open nets in Game 2 -- he can generate his own chances and convert those his teammates create.

"Maybe an underrated part of his game, even though he got almost 50 goals, is that he's a shooter," general manager Ray Shero said. "He likes to score goals.

"He can score goals. He can fire the puck and find those little holes. We've seen some great goals by this guy."

They've seen him set up quite a few, too, including the five against Ottawa. As for what the Penguins -- and the Senators, for that matter -- will see next from Malkin, well, who knows?

Chances are it will be spectacular, but there are simply too many possibilities to predict accurately what it will be.

"He has everything," Sykora said. "There are some great skaters, some great shooters, some great playmakers, but he has everything."