Teams have been making a point lately of getting their best defensive pairing on the ice against Evgeni Malkin.

Doesn't seem to matter much.

Many opponents are doing everything possible to match their top defensive forwards against him, too.

Probably isn't worth the trouble.

The simple truth is, when Malkin is performing at the level where he has spent the past few weeks -- including the Penguins' 4-3 overtime victory Sunday against the Washington Capitals at Consol Energy Center, when he set up two goals and scored the winner -- conventional tactics just aren't going to work.

Neutralizing such an extraordinary talent demands something more than a little personnel maneuvering.

Kryptonite, maybe.

Perhaps a silver bullet.

Or maybe a wooden stake.

OK, could be that none of those would work against Malkin, either, but they couldn't be any less effective than what opposing teams have tried during the Penguins' six-game winning streak.

Malkin has at least one goal in each of those six games, matching the longest such streak of his career, and has produced a fairly stunning personal line score: 9 goals, 4 assists.

Another few weeks of production such as that, and Malkin probably could take the stretch drive off to work on his acceptance speeches for the Art Ross and Hart trophies.

Sheer ability obviously has a lot to do with what he has accomplished --"He's obviously got all the tools, all the skill," Capitals defenseman Dennis Wideman said -- but Malkin's talent is being magnified by his intangibles.