Evgeni Malkin was listed as questionable for Tuesday's game with Atlanta because he had been a little under the weather the past couple of days. You would have never known it watching him skate in Pittsburgh's 6-2 win, while Thrashers goalie Johan Hedberg was the only one looking like he was about to hurl into his goalie mark by the end of the night.Thanks to his five-point performance on Tuesday, Malkin became the first player in the NHL to hit the 100-point plateau this year, reaching the century mark for the second consecutive season.
In the process, he's opened up a 10-point lead over his teammate, Sidney Crosby, and a 12-point lead over his fellow countryman and long-time rival, Alex Ovechkin. Think about that for a second -- a double-digit lead over the only player the NHL markets (Crosby), and a double-digit lead over the only player anybody seems to talk about as this year's MVP (Ovechkin). He's running away with this thing.
After recording assists on goals by Sergei Gonchar and Chris Kunitz, Malkin picked up his 100th point by scoring his 31st goal of the season:
Less than a minute later, Malkin struck again by blasting a one-timer behind Hedberg, and then completed his night by assisting on Mark Eaton's second goal of the season.
So, what's it going to take for Malkin to claim his first MVP award?
I'd imagine the Penguins have to make the playoffs, of course. But, beyond that, does he need to maintain a double-digit lead in the point race? Does he simply need to win the Art Ross Trophy? Just for a quick reference point, in each of the past five years the player that took him the scoring title (Ovechkin, Crosby, Joe Thornton, Martin St. Louis, and Peter Forsberg) also received the Hart Trophy as the league MVP.
