The result of the game Saturday afternoon begged for comment from Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins had just defeated the New York Rangers, 1-0, in a tense fight for playoff positioning in the Metropolitan Division. Malkin scored the only goal on the power play midway through the third period. In ordinary times, he would have come to the interview room to discuss the 75th game-winning goal of his Hall of Fame-worthy career and the significance of the win. He did not come after this terrific game.
Sadly, these are not ordinary times.
Russia invaded Ukraine last week, an act of war that has been decried in just about every corner of the free world. Malkin is Russian. He is in an extraordinarily difficult spot.
If Malkin rips his home country, he puts his family in danger. Russian president Vladimir Putin doesn't treat dissidents and those close to them well. It's believed Malkin's parents, Vladimir and Natalia, still are in Russia. They usually don't come to Penguins games until the playoffs when their appearance on the PPG Paints Arena scoreboard always delights the home crowd.
But if Malkin doesn't condemn Russia's aggression, he is viewed by many here as a traitor to his adopted country. It certainly would be pointed out that he makes his fortune — $9.5 million a year — in the United States.
Malkin can't win.
None of the NHL's Russian players can win. According to thehockeywriters.com, there were 37 Russians on NHL rosters at the start of this season. That's more than 5 percent of the league's players.
That list includes the Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin, the greatest and most prominent Russian athlete.
Ovechkin has 32 goals this season and 762 in his career, ranking fourth in NHL history. He has a chance to pass the incomparable Wayne Gretzky, whose 894 goals were once thought to be an unbreakable record.
Ovechkin also is a well-known Putin supporter. He started "Putin Team" in 2017, a social media campaign to promote Putin. Malkin was among other Russian players in the NHL to sign that initiative.
"I've never hidden my attitude towards our president, always openly supporting him," Malkin wrote on Instagram at the time. "I am confident that there are many of us supporting Vladimir Putin. So let's unite and show everyone a united and strong Russia!"
Ovechkin met the media on Friday and was asked if his support of Putin remains as strong.
"Well, he is my president," Ovechkin said. "But how I said, I am not in politics. I am an athlete and you know, how I said, I hope everything is going to be done soon ...
"It's a hard situation. I have family back in Russia and it is scary moments. But we can't do anything. We just hope it going to be end soon and everything is going to be all right."
Ovechkin has been widely criticized for not taking a stronger stand against Putin.
The Russian players here really can't win.
Think back to what happened last season to Rangers star forward Artemi Panarin.
After Panarin supported Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Instagram post, he was forced to take a two-week leave of absence from the Rangers to deal with an accusation by a former coach in a Russian tabloid that he hit an 18-year-old woman in a hotel bar 10 years earlier. Panarin called the accusation "a fabricated story," a hit piece. He was supported by the Rangers. "This is clearly an intimidation tactic being used against him for being outspoken on recent political events," the team said in a statement at the time.
I'm having a hard time blaming Malkin for not showing up Saturday in that interview room.
It should be noted no one at PPG Paints Arena seemed to care much about Malkin's views on Putin when he scored his goal against Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, another Russian. The Uptown rink erupted again moments later when Malkin worked hard to get another good scoring chance.
The applause was deafening.
Malkin is expected to address the Russia/Ukraine situation soon. I'm guessing he will say something similar to Ovechkin's bottom line. Actually, I'm hoping he says something similar.
"Please, no more war," Ovechkin said. "It doesn't matter who is in the war — Russia, Ukraine, different countries. I think we live in a world, like, we have to live in peace and a great world."
