Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeny Malkin, right, of Russia, celebrates scoring his first NHL goal with Mark Recchi (8), who assisted, against New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur in second period hockey action in Pittsburgh Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006.
Photo: AP
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Malkin of Russia Scores in Each NHL Game
Pittsburgh Penguins' youngster Evgeny Malkin of Russia triumphed again Tuesday night in his fourth game of the NHL action. Before Malkin, a newcomer managed to score a goal in each four starting games in a row only 14 years ago.
A week ago, Malkin made his debut by scoring his first NHL goal against New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. The Penguins lost 1-2 that time. On Tuesday night, however, they overwhelmed New Jersey (4-2) at Mellon Arena.
For the first time, Penguins coach Michel Therrien put Malkin to play in Sidney Crosby’s line for the whole game. And he wasn’t mistaken, as the final highlight-reel goal that Malkin scored in that action could become the most brilliant of the season. Crosby sent a long outlet pass to Malkin at the blue line. The Russian skated in, beat a defender, flipped the puck from his forehand to his backhand and led the squad to the 4-2 advantage.
With the Russian striker, the Penguins advanced to the first place in the Atlantic Division, though the squad had been thought an outsider in early October.
In addition to the goal that set the crowd abuzz, Malkin added an assist to his list of scores that day. Before Malkin, only Steven King of New York Rangers shot goals in the first starting games in a row in 1992. And none of the Russians had been able to score even in three debut games of NHL. Starring striker Maxim Afinogenov of Buffalo Sabres, Dmitry Kvartalnov of Krylia Sovetov and Sergey Makarov, who finished his career, scored only twice to begin with.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 26, 2006
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