Penguins show two sides in clinching win

COLUMBUS, Ohio - When elegant forward Evgeni Malkin is on his game, he looks like a Mercedes on a road full of go-karts.

He had that luxury-ride look for the first time in the series Monday when he scored three goals on six shots to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 win in Game 6 to eliminate the Columbus Blue Jackets from the NHL playoffs.

"Today there was more confidence," Malkin said. "I played a little bit better."

Actually, he played much better, which was probably of great comfort to Pittsburgh sports fans, who had enough angst over Malkin and Sidney Crosby having no goals in the series that they barely seem to be noticing that their beloved Pittsburgh Pirates are on a 2-8 slide.

"It's great that he came out in an elimination game and scored those three goals because we really need them," teammate Chris Kunitz said.

Everyone in Pittsburgh understands that Malkin and Crosby have to be consistently at their best in the playoffs beause the Penguins' overall team defensive play hasn't been strong enough to sustain them if they aren't sharp.

Even Malkin's three goals almost weren't enough Monday. They helped the Penguins build a 4-0 lead, but the Blue Jackets scored three goals in less than five minutes late in the third period to make the Penguins scramble for a victory, There were a couple of chances in the final three minutes that easily could have resulted in the tying goal.

"We still haven't put together a good 60 minutes," Kunitz said. "But last game was probably our best when we put 50 shots on net. But this game, we played 45 minutes and kind of let up."

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma got Malkin going by playing him early with Crosby and Kunitz.

"When Dan put (No.) 71 and (No.) 87 together, that's a pretty good duo to have and (No.) 14 on the other side," said Columbus coach Todd Richards.

Confidence always seems to be an issue with Malkin and he seemed to have plenty of that in Game 6. In Games 3, 4 and 5, he had a total of five shots on goal.

Malkin now has three goals and four assists for seven points in six games. What slump? Crosby has six assists. That's 13 points between them. That's what Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have for the Chicago Blackhawks.

But surrendering the late goals has to be alarming for a team that wanted to play tighter postseason defense. They have given up 18 goals in six games. By contrast, the Boston Bruins gave up six goals in their five-game series win against the Detroit Red Wings. The Penguins could play the New York Rangers next and they are giving two goals per game, while the Penguins have been giving up three.

"You could feel the momentum shift," Kunitz said about the third period of Game 6. "But in the last three or four minutes, we did a good job of trying to match their intensity."

The solution is simple. If you look at Game 5, and the first two periods of Game 6, the Penguins gave up one goal and fewer scoring chances over five periods. They need to duplicate that on a consistent basis.

"We have to start playing 60-minute games," Kunitz said.

If they can't start doing that, it might not matter whether Malkin and Crosby score.