On Wednesday night, Evgeni Malkin will have to do something he's only done once before in his career: Play a postseason game without Sidney Crosby.
Granted, Malkin will hardly be alone in this endeavor. The Penguins made it abundantly clear that replacing Crosby _ who was diagnosed with a concussion Tuesday _ will be a group effort moving forward.
But if there's one player on the roster who can elevate his game to a level that makes up for Crosby's absence, it'll be the man who takes his spot centering the Penguins' top line.
"It'll be fun to watch Geno now, knowing him, knowing what he can do out there," goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said Tuesday. "He's a dominant player also and I'm really looking forward to seeing him go tomorrow."
The only time Malkin has skated in a playoff game without Crosby was the first game of the 2013 postseason against the Islanders. He notched two assists as the Penguins won, 5-0.
Malkin does, though, have extensive regular-season experience playing without Crosby in the lineup, and he tends to take his game to another level when that is the case.
In 117 career games without Crosby, Malkin has 66 goals and 88 assists. That's an average of 1.32 points per game, a tick up from his average of 1.15 per game with Crosby in the lineup.
He shoots the puck more (3.9 shots per game without Crosby compared to 3.4 per game with him) and, perhaps not coincidentally, the puck goes in the net more _ his shooting percentage rises a full point, from 13.4 percent to 14.4 percent when Malkin plays without Crosby.
"I just think Geno's an elite player, and he has that ability," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's been a very good player for us throughout the course of these playoffs, and we're going to rely on him that much more. We believe he'll get the job done for us. I don't think the burden of responsibility falls on him solely, I think it's a collective effort."
Still, Malkin will have to carry a good deal of the weight. In addition to raising his play, his level of responsibility also increases when he plays without Crosby. On average, he plays 1 minute, 11 seconds more per game than his career average. That will likely be the case in Game 3 Wednesday night.
"It seems like certain players will step up at given times to make big plays that help this team find ways to win games," Sullivan said.
Unsurprisingly, Malkin was heavily involved during the Penguins' furious rally to force overtime at the end of Game 3 Monday night. He scored the first goal to give the Penguins some life, and assisted on Justin Schultz's game-tying goal with just over a minute remaining.
"I think he did last night," winger Patric Hornqvist said. "You see him the whole game, he holds on to the puck. He's playing really good.
"He's skating, he does things with the puck like no one else. It looks like he's playing loose and he's a hell of a player."
