MONTREAL -- A few weeks before the season started, Mike Sullivan sat down with Evgeni Malkin. He told the future Hall of Famer he wanted to see some changes to his game.
Message delivered. Message received.
Malkin finished a spectacular trip by leading the way with 3 points in Montreal as the Pittsburgh Penguins jumped ahead early, then fell behind, then recaptured the lead in a 6-3 victory at the Bell Centre on Monday.
"He was absolutely flying," Drew O'Connor said. "He's incredible right now."
Malkin finished with seven points (one goal, six assists) on the Penguins' three-game road trip through Detroit, Toronto and Montreal. He has recorded two assists in three consecutive games.
While Malkin is never going to win a Selke Trophy, Sullivan rewarded him late in the third period by putting him on the ice with Montreal Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault pulled. Malkin responded with an empty-netter to put the game away.
"He's playing the game the right way," Sullivan said. "We've talked to him a lot about certain aspects of the game. We can see him making a concerted effort to play the game the right way. He's doing what he's asked. We asked him to cut his skating down in the defensive zone a little bit. His play away from the puck. Not playing with so much emotion. I think he's trying to do that."
"I think he looks really strong," Sullivan said. "And he still has the ability to take over the game at particular points in time. I thought he played a really strong game tonight."
His teammates are noticing a new Malkin. The egregious turnovers that can sometimes plague his otherwise brilliant game are nowhere to be seen. In four games, he hasn't taken a penalty. He has been, without question, the Penguins' best player.
Malkin is now one goal away from hitting No. 500 for his career, which means Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena against the Buffalo Sabres could be a special night.
His defensive work hasn't been too shabby, either.
"He's playing really well," Letang said. "He's in a rush to get to 500 goals, I guess. But really, he's playing really well. What impressed me the most is his play away from the puck. He's playing a lot better in his own zone and it's fun to watch."
The Penguins received two goals from Lars Eller and Kevin Hayes recorded the game-winner.
Tristan Jarry, who hadn't been given a start since the season-opener last week, allowed one questionable goal but was good enough to earn the victory, stopping 24 of 27 shots. He did make a couple of quality saves in the third period as the Penguins seized control of the game.
* This was a much-needed victory.
They'll never say this -- in fact, they surely don't believe this -- but it's a win for the Penguins if they can stay around the .500 mark in October simply because their schedule is so brutal. Thus, a 2-1 road trip was a perfectly respectable result.
The Penguins now get two games at home before the brutal Western Canada trip that will take them to Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver next week.
You hate to emphasize the importance of games in October, but the fact is the Penguins entered the season in pretty vulnerable shape because they haven't reached the postseason in each of the past two years. They also are dealing with an unstable goaltending situation.
But all things considered, they're 2-2 following their disastrous start to the season. Not bad.
* Monday felt like three games in one.
The Penguins played easily their finest period of the season in the opening 20 minutes. They didn't allow a shot in the first 13:30 of the game, played airtight defense and took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Eller and Rakell.
In the second period, however, the game opened up. And when that happens to these Penguins, bad things happen. They aren't kids anymore. Pond hockey very clearly is no longer their friend.
"We just played so loose in the second period," Letang said. "We can't do that."
In the third period, the Penguins found their first-period form.
Sullivan often talks about how his Penguins are at their best when they put defense first, because the offense will come. This game is Exhibit A of that belief.
* Here's something you won't read in this space very often, but I'm not doing my job if I don't say it: Sidney Crosby had a really brutal game. The captain, who remains one point away from reaching 1,600 for his career, looked out of sorts all evening.
Crosby did not record a shot on goal and was charged with a game-high five turnovers. The scorekeepers in Montreal definitely saw the game in a bit of a slanted way, as the Canadiens were charged with eight giveaways compared to 22 for the Penguins. That number is a bit out of whack. Still, Crosby was a giveaway machine, consistently forcing plays through the center of the ice, a couple of which led to Montreal's transition game getting a good look.
I wouldn't worry about Crosby. He doesn't always play well in Montreal and I suspect the 1,600-point milestone might be on his mind. But that's four games without a goal for him this season and he was very much off against the Canadiens. I'd expect a much better performance against Buffalo on Wednesday.
* I thought Jarry was OK. Not great, not terrible. Good enough to win.
He was in the trainer's room after the game so wasn't available to talk about his performance.
"I thought he got better as the game went on," Sullivan said.
The first goal he allowed was pretty bad, as Jarry froze because he thought Mike Matheson was going to take a shot. Instead, Matheson delivered a pass to Kaiden Guhle, who had a virtually empty net to shoot out. Just a really bad goal.
Montreal's other goals came on a power play tap-in when Letang was badly out out of position and a two-on-one when Erik Karlsson was caught flat-footed and stuck behind the play. I blame Letang and Karlsson, respectively, for those two goals.
I'd call it a small step in the right direction. It will be interesting to see which goaltender plays against the Sabres and moving forward.
* Eller does so many good things for the Penguins in the defensive zone that it's something of a bonus when he creates offense. Well, he not only scored two goals, they were goalscorer's goals. Both were beautiful snipes.
* Hayes got the game-winner, pouncing on a rebound and scoring.
I've been impressed with Hayes. Many in the Penguins' fan base were down on the decision to acquire him, but I think he's been good so far. He sees the ice beautifully and clearly still possesses plenty of playmaking ability. He's a very good penalty-killer.
Not bad for your fourth-line center.
* I actually thought Ryan Graves played pretty well in Detroit and Toronto, but seemed as though his game regressed in Montreal. He was assessed three giveaways, took a penalty and frankly got away with a couple of other plays that could have been called penalties.
Ryan Shea was his defense partner in this game, as Jack St. Ivany was a healthy scratch. I'd expect St. Ivany to be back in the lineup soon.
* Jesse Puljujarvi was back in the lineup, and he shouldn't be removed any time soon. He's easily one of the Penguins' 12 best forwards and he set up Eller's goal in the first period.
Rutger McGroarty was a healthy scratch and I do wonder if he may see some time in Wilkes-Barre at some point. He's going to be very good but I'm not so sure that some time in the AHL wouldn't be a good thing for him.
* Rakell looks like a different player this season. He's clearly a step quicker.
I've said many times in the past that I don't love Malkin and Rakell on the same line. But if they're both going to play at this level, well, I can't disagree with them playing together. They've been exceptional.
* I give Malkin a lot of credit. He's a future Hall of Famer and a little bullheaded by nature. Many players of his age and level of accomplishment would play the game the way they see fit. Malkin, in fact, has always been that way.
It's a credit to his professionalism and his desire to win that he listened to Sullivan and, at 38, is attempting to make real changes to his game. Good for him.