Cook: Sulking won't cure Malkin's slump
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Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has not scored in eight consecutive games.
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It's hard to say what is more troubling as the scuffling Penguins fight to get their season back on track -- Evgeni Malkin's lengthy goal-scoring slump or the lame way he appears to be dealing with it.
I'm thinking lame all the way.
Slumps happen to every player during the long NHL season, even to players with monstrous ability, which Malkin clearly has. There are times when the puck just doesn't go in. So it has been for Malkin, to the point that his goal drought is fast approaching the ridiculous stage. He has scored just three goals in the past 12 games, all three coming in an 8-2 win against the Ottawa Senators Dec. 23. In those other 11 games? Nothing. Going back further, he has scored goals in just three of the past 19 games.
It's no coincidence the Penguins are 3-7 in their past 10 games even after playing well in a 4-1 win at Toronto Saturday night. It's also no coincidence their shockingly inept power play is in a 2-for-21 slide despite getting a goal from defenseman Sergei Gonchar against the Maple Leafs.
The Penguins need more from Malkin.
At the moment, he is not earning his $8.7 million salary.
For the season, Sidney Crosby (27) has more than twice as many goals as Malkin (13). Bill Guerin (14) has more. Jordan Staal (13) is right there with him and Mike Rupp (11), for goodness' sake, is closing fast.
It's surprising the Penguins have put together such a fine record (28-17-1) getting so little from Malkin.
It's also hard to believe the team will be successful in the days and months ahead without getting much more from him.
Malkin has the skill to break out at any time, perhaps tonight in the game at Minnesota. He did have five assists in the past three games, two of which the Penguins won. But the team needs goals from him. It has to be hoping that he gets in the right state of mind to start delivering them.
Now we're getting to that troubling part.
It's one thing to take a slump seriously. All the great ones do. But it's something much worse to beat yourself up so much that you become ineffective and have an even tougher time getting your game right.
First Published January 11, 2010 12:00 am
