from Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

Earlier this season, in a ZOOM session with reporters, Malkin mentioned that he did not have his usual offseason because of the pandemic and maybe didn’t try hard enough to find open gyms back home in Russia.

It showed.

As February progressed, however, you could see the legs returning. The smile soon followed. So did the points. Malkin has nine of them in six games in March, with at least one in each game, and the Penguins are 5-1.

The backdrop here is Malkin’s contract situation. He has one year left on his current deal. If he keeps playing like this, the Penguins’ new braintrust of Ron Hextall and Brian Burke will feel a lot better about the idea of extending him.

Did you happen to see Malkin’s ZOOM call after the 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday? He looked 10 years younger in his Penguins ballcap and was clearly feeling like himself again. Which is to say, light-hearted, thoughtful and witty.

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