Penguins Room: Evgeni Malkin Family Still Makes a Big Difference

The sight of Evgeni Malkin’s parents, Vladimir and Natalia Malkin on the video board waving to a cheering crowd, usually wearing smiles that could almost be seen from space, was a regular, albeit special occurrence for most of Malkin’s first 10 years in the NHL. Often, it seemed they showed up as Malkin struggled, washing away the slump with some home cooking and enthusiasm.

Yep, Malkin still likes his parents, and while there is no official statistic that tracks his offensive output when momma and poppa Malkin make the trip from Magnitogorsk, Russia, to Pittsburgh, the effects are usually pretty obvious.

There were again on Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Malkin had a little pep in his step. He scored a pair of goals, leading the Penguins to a 3-2 win over Columbus.

However, age tends to slow things. Malkin, 37, is admittedly not the same player he was a few years ago. And it’s become more difficult for his parents to make the trip. In fact, Malkin said they haven’t been to a game since 2018 or ’19.

Time flies, doesn’t it?

“It’s been since like 2018 or 19, it was a long time ago (since they last visited),” “Yeah. It probably gave me a little bit more emotion there. It worked all the time. So imagine that coming in late October or November?”

When the Penguins put Vladimir on the video board, the arena went crazy. That’s how things used to be, too. Mr. Malkin always brought with him a little good luck and lots of smiles.

In addition to a pair of goals, Malkin led the Penguins with five shots on goal, including a few one-timers on the power play. For a night, it was like old times.

And Malkin is lobbying for more, too. After all, he said they still get up at 3 a.m. local time to watch each game, and they’re clued into the team and what’s going on. And, when Mrs. Malkin arrives, she still does a little bit of cooking, too.

“Yeah, they give me a little bit more motivation. They try to come here more often, but because of COVID for two years (they couldn’t),” Malkin said. “Now, they’re a little bit older, it’s hard to fly because it’s almost a 20 hour flight.

“Yeah, I hope next year they say like whole year.”