Pens' Malkin thriving without Sid

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Just when the Penguins need him most, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review believes the old Evgeni Malkin has surfaced.

Malkin, 10 months removed from significant knee surgery and a couple of years removed from the best-player-in-the-world discussion, is the NHL's hottest player.

And maybe its best.

With so many key players out of the lineup, Malkin is being leaned on more heavily than any point in his career. The star center is clearly up to the challenge.

"And he needs to be," left wing Matt Cooke said. "He's the guy right now. He can't look anywhere else. It's got to be on him, and he knows that. He understands that, and he's playing very well."

Malkin sustained a torn ACL on Feb. 4 against Buffalo that ended his season. The first month of the 2011-12 season saw Malkin battle knee pain, to the point where he missed seven early games. He played well in October, producing seven points in six games.

Since the beginning of November, Malkin has registered 29 points in 20 games. Without Sidney Crosby in the lineup during the past five games, Malkin has six goals and six assists.

And finally, playing against Buffalo for the first time since the injury, Malkin produced a virtuoso performance against the Sabres, tying a career-high with five points.

"It was a long time where I (worried) about my knee," Malkin said. "I started a little slow. Now I feel a little bit better."

The article notes Malkin's 36 points are good for fourth in the NHL, and he trails injured Philadelphia star Claude Giroux and Toronto winger Phil Kessel by three points for the league lead. He has played four fewer games than Kessel and two fewer than Giroux. Only Giroux and center Sidney Crosby (who has only played eight games) possess a higher points per game total than Malkin's 1.38.

Malkin insists the Art Ross Trophy, which he claimed with 113 points in 2009, isn't on his mind.

"I'm not thinking about my points," Malkin said. "I'm just starting to find my level and am trying to play better every game."

The Toronto Sun describes how firewagon hockey is fine — until you start to smell smoke through the back porch and kitchen.

So, Ron Wilson will turn down the heat up front on Monday, counting on that precaution helping the Maple Leafs’ zone being a much safer place. The most significant move will see Tyler Bozak, the centre of the Eastern Conference’s most sizzling scoring duo, replaced with a safety device named Tim Connolly. That’s in the hope that Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul can still fill the net but see fewer red lights go off in their own end of the rink.

“They’ve scored a lot of goals, but been on the ice for a lot,” Wilson conceded. “It’s just a chance to find a little bit more balance in our scoring and balance in our defence.

“We’re getting more of the (forward line) look we expected earlier in the season,” Wilson added. “Timmy is pretty healthy, now. I don’t think we’ll change the power play because Bozie is doing a great job there. But (with Connolly at centre), they’ve played together six times and were really successful and so were we as a team.”

With the Leafs in a funk of 2-5-1 that threatens their modest success in the first third of the season, Monday’s home game against the dysfunctional Los Angeles Kings is an ideal time to change the routine to re-distribute the pluses and minuses in the lineup.

As Connolly gets used to Kessel and Lupul, again, Bozak is to move back with Matt Frattin and either Joey Crabb or Colby Armstrong, the latter sitting out Sunday’s practice with a sore foot.

And in another attempt to give Nikolai Kulemin a comfort zone in familiar surroundings, he is back with Clarke MacArthur and Mikhail Grabovski.

“I want that line to find some chemistry and get the job done,” Wilson said with a hint of impatience in his voice. “We expected them to be our No. 2/No. 1 line and, for whatever reason, it hasn’t always worked. I want them to get going. Bozie played with Frattin some in the pre-season and Crabby can help there, too.”

The Ottawa Sun notes that Jason Spezza doesn’t get a ballot for the Calder Trophy given to the NHL’s rookie of the year.

If the Senators alternate captain did, he’d have teammate Jared Cowen’s name right at the top. Spezza believes the 6-foot-5 defenceman has made as big an impact on his team as any other rookie in the league.

At this juncture, Cowen should be listed as one of the top candidates for the Calder, but he’s going to have a tough time competing against Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and New Jersey’s Adam Henrique.

“He’s equally, or more important to our team, as any of those guys are to their teams,” said Spezza. “He’s playing big minutes for us. Because he’s not a flashy player, he might get overlooked when it comes to awards.

“He’s going to be a guy who is going to play a long, long time and have a really successful career. We’d like to see him be involved in the rookie-of-the-year talk, but it’s pretty tough for a stay-at-home-defenceman. He makes a big impact in our dressing room and I think that’s enough for him.”

Cowen, for his part, offered this: “I’m not going to change what I do to get noticed. When you do that, things go wrong. If I get noticed, it’s because I’m playing well. I’ve been scoring points lately, but it’s just a result of me playing well, not straying from how I usually play. I get points sometimes, just like other guys.”

The Sun points out that Cowen might be the biggest reason David Rundblad became expendable for the Senators. Cowen and playing partner Erik Karlsson could develop into a reliable long-time duo for Ottawa, much like Chris Phillips and Zdeno Chara in the past.

“Jared has probably been our most consistent young player,” said coach Paul MacLean, who gave the players Sunday off as part of a three-day break before hosting Buffalo on Tuesday. “He’s really elevated his game and has taken it to another level with those guys out.

“He’s going to be (on the ice) regardless. With Rundblad, he still had more to learn. We’re getting a really good player and in order to get a really good player, you’re going to have to give up a really good player. Whether it was him or somebody else, we were going to have to give up somebody really good.”

The Vancouver Province believes that on this, there is no debate: Mason Raymond's back will never be the same and the injury he suffered has forever changed him.

He is different, increasingly philosophical, matured and having a lot more fun.

Whether it's changed him as a player on the ice is open to discussion and will take time to sort out. But, just seven games in, it sure looks like it.

Raymond has three goals and is playing as well as he ever has despite missing months of training after suffering an injury which could have ended his career. It took Ryan Kesler about 15 games to find his groove again after offseason surgery. It's taken Raymond about 15 minutes.

Is it possible enduring a traumatic, life-changing injury has altered Raymond's approach on the ice?

"Of course it has," Raymond said. "There's no doubt in my mind it has. Why is it one of those situations where it takes an injury like that for you to have a different look at the game? I don't know.

"But I'm enjoying it and I'm going along for the ride."

Raymond has quickly earned his way onto the second line, where he played with Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins Saturday.

The Province points out that several of the Canucks remarked on Raymond's strength since he's returned, referencing the seemingly countless hours he spent as a gym rat, including head coach Alain Vigneault.

"I'm not sure if anything's changed, I couldn't put a specific finger on anything," Vigneault said. "You'd have to ask him. But I do know, I watched him for almost three months in the gym almost every day, putting in long hours and long workouts.

"For him to get back to where he is right now, give him credit, because he put in the time and the effort."

The Philadelphia Daily News indicates that when Claude Giroux returned to practice yesterday for the first time since sustaining a concussion on Dec. 10, he was zooming around the Pepsi Center ice in a bright yellow, "non-contact" jersey.

While the jersey's color is to remind teammates of his fragility on the ice, Giroux probably surprised a few of them when he was pushing, shoving and battling in drills.

"When you get back on the ice, you want to get back into the rhythm," Giroux said. "I tried to go as fast as I could."

Giroux said he couldn't even compare how he felt yesterday to the general fogginess that enveloped him when he tried to skate by himself for 15 minutes last Monday in Philadelphia.

"It's a different story," Giroux said. "I really didn't feel good the last time. I was kind of dizzy and stuff. Today I felt good. I understand it's just a process and we've got to be patient with this."

Giroux knows firsthand, from two teammates in the last week alone, that his symptoms will ebb and flow over time. Just last Wednesday, Brayden Schenn - also out indefinitely with a concussion - skated in a full practice in Montreal.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren told The Daily News there is no change in Schenn's status, but he must have suffered a setback. He has not skated since Wednesday and is not even on this week's three-game trip to Denver, Dallas and the New York Rangers.

Giroux pointed to Sidney Crosby for further proof, as if it were needed, since Crosby missed 68 straight games before returning on Nov. 21. The game's best player lasted just eight games before symptoms reappeared after a collision with a teammate.

"Even with Crosby, you see what happened," Giroux said. "You want to be careful and you want to make sure that when you come back, you're 100 percent.

"I think it's early in the season to jump when you're not feeling 100 percent. I want to play and I want to help the team, but I've got to just to be patient."

Will he be back in time for the Winter Classic? Giroux couldn't say. With concussions, there are no definitive answers.

"I don't want to go into too much details, I just want to get back into my routine," Giroux said. "It was a great feeling to get back on the ice with the boys, to get a little skate and a little sweat. If I keep feeling like I am right now, I will go back, get on the bike, get in shape and hopefully get back on the ice soon."

The St. Petersburg Times reports that Marty St. Louis said he will seriously consider wearing a visor when he returns from facial injuries sustained at a Dec. 8 morning skate when he was hit by a backhand shot from teammate Dominic Moore.

St. Louis likely will first wear a cage to protect his broken nose. But wearing a visor is a notable admission of vulnerability from a player who has so resisted the protective shield.

"It's easier said than done," he said.

The Lightning right wing has sustained some fairly serious facial injuries in his career, the most dramatic being when he was cut between the eyes by a skate blade.

But St. Louis said he never before was hit in the eye, and the puck off Moore's stick clipped enough of his left eye that it took eight days for the blood to drain. His depth perception still is affected, though no long-term problems are expected.

"It's easy to look back, and there are plenty of things in your life you want back, (to) do things a certain way. We all do," St. Louis said. "Sometimes you need something like that to make you lean a certain way."

Last season, captain Vinny Lecavalier took a stick blade in his right eye. On Dec. 8, F Blair Jones ran into the mask of Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist and cut his nose.

Both now wear visors.

LA Kings Insider notes that before long, the Kings will have played six games under three head coaches. Terry Murray coached last Saturday at home before he was fired Monday. Interim coach John Stevens has handled this four-game road trip and, when the Kings get home, newly hired Darryl Sutter will be behind the bench Thursday against Anaheim.

It’s been an exhausting, whirlwind week, and one can only imagine how it has impacted the players. General manager Dean Lombardi met with players twice this week in an attempt to keep them updated and calm their minds, but no doubt, their phones have been buzzing regularly, with friends and family either providing or asking for information.

Here are Drew Doughty's thoughts Sunday following practice...

DOUGHTY: “I definitely think that, in a way, it’s affected some guys more than others. Me personally, it doesn’t affect me. I’m just out there to play, and playing for the team. John has been doing a great job as the coach. All that other stuff, I’m not one to read all the media. I don’t ever pay attention to that kind of thing. I just kind of find out things through the guys talking about it in the room. I think everyone is maybe a little nervous about a new coach coming in. It’s something we’re not used to, but I think it’s a good thing. I think change is what we need. Obviously what we’re doing right now isn’t working, and we can’t just assume that things are going to flip in an instant and we’re going to start winning all our games. We have to do something to change it, and hopefully with a new coach, guys kind of get that nerve-racking feeling again, where they’re playing real hard for each other.’’

Question: Sort of like hitting the reset button?

DOUGHTY: “Exactly. Once you get used to someone, you get more comfortable with them and maybe guys feel like, because they’re so comfortable with the coach, that they can get away with certain things. But now, with a new coach coming in, we have no idea what to expect. We’ll be in check, and everyone is going to play hard because they don’t know what the new coach will do.’’

After scoring a career-high 24 goals last season, The New York Post writes that Brandon Dubinsky had high expectations for himself this season.

So did the Rangers, who signed the 25-year-old to a four-year, $16.8 million deal over the summer.

But the year hasn’t gone as planned. Dubinsky has scored only one goal.

He’s hoping that’s about to change and his long shift at the end of Saturday’s 3-2 win over Phoenix could be a sign that he’s onto something.

“I was dead tired, but I was just really trying to buy time for the other guys,” Dubinsky said, as his play with a man advantage helped set up Brad Richards’ game-winner with :00.1 left. “I looked up at the clock and there was enough time to get another opportunity.”

And Dubinsky was relieved when Richards made the extra effort count.

“It was nice to finally have something good happen,” Dubinsky said.

“That’s what we need from [Dubinsky],” coach John Tortorella said. “To keep pucks alive.”

Dubinsky would like to be able to do more than that.

“It’s been a bit of a struggle for me, obviously,” he said. “I’ve been pretty conscientious about how I’ve been playing and trying to learn from the mistakes I make and build on the good things I do ... but things in life aren’t always perfect.”

He has found that out the hard way this year, but is confident he has enough time to ensure that he doesn’t take a step back.

“As soon as you get going, you look back six weeks, seven weeks, it’s a small blip on the screen,” Dubinsky said. “And that’s the way I’ve got to approach it mentally.”

He managed three shots on goal Saturday, but is encouraged by how active he has been.

“I feel like I’ve had more energy and it feels like I’ve really been skating the past couple of games,” he said. “That’s what I’ve gotta do to be successful and help this team and get back to the player that I know I can be.

“I’m at my best when my legs are moving and I’m carrying the puck and hanging onto the puck. Those are the things I’m really focused on.”

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.