Evgeni Malkin clarified his comments from Saturday night talking to Wes Crosby of NHL.com after the Pittsburgh Penguins held a closed-door meeting to sort out their recent slide.
Malkin had expressed his frustrations with losing three of his last four games after being shut out by the New Jersey Devils saying, “We don’t play right. We don’t play hard. We’re mad at each other.”
Malkin on his comments from Saturday: “It’s a little bit not what I want to say. It’s not mad at each other. We’re a pretty tight team.”
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) November 16, 2015
Malkin: “It’s not like me and Sid or whoever [are mad at each other]. It’s just the game. We don’t like how we play.” #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) November 16, 2015
On Monday, captain Sidney Crosby supported his Russian star, saying he was misunderstood.
Crosby said he spoke with Malkin and thinks he was misunderstood: “He did not mean we are mad at each other. He meant we are frustrated.”
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) November 16, 2015
The Penguins are currently fifth in the Metropolitan Division with a 10-7-0 record.
Their next game is Tuesday night at home against the Minnesota Wild.
