The Penguins’ winning streak is over. So is Evgeni Malkin’s scoring tear. And now they must wait to see how long it will be until he is able begin a new one.
Malkin suffered an injury during the first period of Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena. The hit on Malkin would set off a powderkeg between two longtime Eastern Conference powerhouses that in this pandemic season find themselves jostling for playoff position in the remade East Division.
Malkin, the puck on his stick, charged down the right wall and into the corner. He saw Bruins defenseman Jarred Tinordi, a former Penguins minor-leaguer, at the last second but couldn’t step out of the way of his hard but legal bodycheck.
Their right knees appeared to clack together then the big Russian temporarily went airborne before landing hard on his left hip. Malkin picked himself up slowly and gingerly made his way to the bench. After getting checked out by Penguins head athletic trainer Chris Stewart, the two headed to the dressing room.
About seven minutes of game action had elapsed when Malkin returned. He took just one more shift, on the power play, before leaving the game for good.
Malkin entered the night on an eight-game scoring streak. That included a pair of points in Monday’s 4-1 over the Bruins at PPG Paints Arena. He recorded four goals, eight assists and a plus-6 rating over that span for the red-hot Penguins, who were red-hot in large part due to the reemergence of their other star center.
Coach Mike Sullivan could have an update on Malkin’s status after the game.
Malkin’s teammate, Brandon Tanev, would later be booted from the game for a hard hit in the neutral zone that sent Tinordi crashing into the boards.
Tinordi reached the red line at center ice and dumped the puck into the Pittsburgh zone. Tanev charged across the ice and hit Tinordi square in the chest and right shoulder as the blue-liner let go of the puck several feet from the boards.
Tinordi lost his balance and slid into the boards. His head hit the wall hard and his stick flew in the air. He remained down on the ice for more than a minute. He went to the dressing room and was sidelined for the rest of the night.
The officials gave Tanev a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. The call was confirmed via replay and Tanev was done for the night, too.
Tanev was livid and social media buzzed about the merits of a major penalty.
The Bruins were unable to capitalize on the penalty against a Penguins penalty kill that has been much better in March. The best chance on that major came on the stick of Mark Jankowski, who hit the post on a shorthanded breakaway.
But Trent Frederic gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with 12:53 left. His wrister from the point made it through a bunch of bodies, including Casey DeSmith’s.
The Penguins, down two key forwards in the second half of a back-to-back, were unable to rally back in this one. Their winning streak was snapped at six.
The Penguins on Tuesday were already without third-line center Teddy Blueger, who was surprisingly out of the lineup. Jankowski was bumped up to the third line and they gave a sweater to Sam Lafferty for the first time since March 6.
When Malkin went down, it was Evan Rodrigues who moved over to the middle on the second line, forming a makeshift line with Tanev and Kasperi Kapanen.
Those three connected for a first-period goal that tied it at 1-1. Kapanen pulled up at the top of the left circle then put the puck on net. Rodrigues redirected it, creating a rebound. Tanev stashed it behind Bruins goalie Dan Vladar.
The Bruins grabbed the lead 3:20 into the game, after the Penguins squandered an early power play. With Malkin in the penalty box, Brad Marchand crossed their blue line with speed then quickly snapped a pass across to David Pastrnak, who streaked behind the defense then tucked the puck between DeSmith’s pads.
DeSmith was back between the pipes Tuesday, three days after shutting out the Buffalo Sabres. Entering Tuesday, the steady backup had won six of his first eight starts in 2021, posting a respectable .911 save percentage in the process.
DeSmith was sharp again, making 31 saves. But Vladar was a tad bit better. He made 34 saves, 11 in the third period, to earn his first career NHL victory.
With Tuukka Rask sidelined and Jaroslav Halak playing a night earlier, Vladar made his first NHL start. The 6-foot-6 goalie was a third-round pick for the Bruins in 2015 and spent last season with Providence of the American Hockey League, where he shared a net with current Penguins third-string goalie Maxime Lagace.
In the first period, Vladar made a spectacular save he won’t soon forget. He looked to be down and out when the puck came to Colton Sceviour at the side of the net. But Vladar sprawled across to swat Sceviour’s shot aside with his paddle.
Vladar made another highlight-reel save with the score tied in the second period. He stretched out his long right leg to deny Bryan Rust on the doorstep.
The Penguins are scheduled to visit the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. It will be the first of three games in four days against the division’s seventh-place team.
