Published: May 09, 2008 11:58 pm            

Malkin’s slap shot on breakaway proves deceptive and effective

PITTSBURGH — As if the NHL needed further proof of his dominance in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Evgeni Malkin elevated his game to yet another level on Friday night.

The Pittsburgh Penguins center scored two goals – one in which he used a slap shot to convert a short-handed breakaway – in a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Mellon Arena.

Malkin assisted on another goal and even mixed it up with Flyers forward Scottie Upshall and defenseman Derian Hatcher late in Game 1 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference finals.

His short-handed tally 4:50 into the second period provided the Pens a two-goal cushion after a first period in which the teams combined for five goals. The margin stood the rest of the way, thanks to Marc-Andre Fleury’s 26 saves.

“It was a last-second decision,” Malkin said, describing his slap shot through his interpreter. “My penalty shot wasn’t that great a few times (in past games). At the last second I just decided to shoot the puck as hard as I can.

“I didn’t think about it or make any moves. I just shot it as hard as I can. In this situation I don’t have a lot of time to think about what to do. I had a few seconds to think and I decided to shoot as hard as I can.”

The goal occurred only moments after the Flyers’ Mike Richards delivered a hard hit that knocked down Malkin deep in the Penguins’ offensive zone.

The play continued up ice as Malkin slowly regained his composure and headed to the blue line just as defenseman Sergei Gonchar sprung him with a long pass.

Malkin stopped in the slot and teed up a slap shot that blew past goaltender Martin Biron.

“Hey, it worked,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, known for making sometimes astonishing maneuvers and fakes on such breakaways. “If I had his shot, I’d do the same thing. It was a great shot. Whatever works.”

Malkin set up the game’s first goal by capitalizing on a miscue.

Philadelphia’s Patrick Thoresen overskated the puck near the Flyers’ blue line, enabling Malkin to pick up the neutral-zone turnover. Malkin used his skate to settle the disc, then passed to Ryan Malone on the left wing. Malone found Petr Sykora near the right circle, and Sykora waited before lifting a shot over Biron’s leg pad.

Malkin beat the clock after taking a Ryan Whitney pass at the blue line and placing a backhander over Biron’s stickside shoulder with 6.5 seconds showing in the first.

Malkin’s night ended early as he was sent off the ice with 1:28 left after several verbal exchanges and shoving matches broke out. Malkin said he lost a chain on the ice and was trying to get it back when the trouble erupted.

“I lost my chain,” Malkin said. “I have a very important, for me, cross. I tried to find the chain.”

        

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