Another Big Man Disappears

Joe Thornton’s reputation of less than stellar playoff play has been well documented and, at least in the minds of San Jose fans, well deserved. Another regular season superstar could fall into the same category, if things do not turn around soon. With Ovechkin and Crosby essentially cancelling each other out on the scoreboard, Malkin has to step up as the difference maker, and not in the stupid penalty in the 3rd period kind of way, if the Penguins are going to get back into the series. While Crosby looks like he’s playing like a guy that can will a victory for his team at some point in the series, Malkin is not creating the kind of offense that you expect from the Art Ross winner, while also showing a lack of interest in backchecking.

If Malkin’s suspect play in the first two games of the second round was an isolated incident, it would be easy to chalk it up to a couple off nights. However, combined with his lacklustre performance in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, and you have to wonder if the Penguins have a case of “Jumbo Gino” on their hands.

Here’s hoping that Malkin breaks out in a big way and is able to show Ovechkin and Crosby that another superstar came to play in this series, too.

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