Evgeni Malkin faces yet another difficult struggle in Pittsburgh

Earlier this month, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin made the difficult admission that age is catching up to him, consequently having a rough impact on his performance on the ice.

“I’m not playing like 15 years ago. It’s not the same game. I want to try to change a little bit. I know I’m not flying like before. I try (to be) a little bit smart(er) in my game.”

His statement has only become truer and truer lately with fans calling him out on social media. This has to be yet another difficult hurdle for the veteran forward, who is only wishing to get better and help the Penguins in a push to make the postseason.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, last night, fans pointed out that Geno had not scored in his last eight games, and only recorded one goal in the past 14 outings.

From there, fans called out Malkin, also wondering why Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan would choose to have him play with young players called up from the American Hockey League in Drew O’Connor and Matthew Phillips.

Harsh comments were trending all through last night’s game against the New York Islanders, in which Malkin managed to record an assist on O’Connor’s tally.

However, the Penguins failed to get the two points and currently sit in seventh place of the Metropolitan division, eight points out of the last Wild Card playoff spot in the Eastern conference.

Captain Sidney Crosby continues to be a dominant force in his late 30s, but the same cannot be said of Malkin.

Malkin wants to help his team despite age is catching him, but something needs to happen soon before he gets affected by all the negative chatter and it only gets worse.

Another hurdle for the veteran player at the worst possible time in Pittsburgh…

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