The Pittsburgh Penguins started the season well but have dropped two games in a row.
With that in mind, they’re making a change with Evgeni Malkin that will also impact Sidney Crosby.
The lineup alteration comes on the heels of a 5-3 defeat to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. The Penguins had also lost 3-2 to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.
Before that, Pittsburgh had opened the season with an incredible 7-0 win in Philadelphia over the Flyers and followed that up with a 6-5 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.
The NHL season is 84 games now, even slightly longer than its already lengthy nature, and so there’s a lot of time for ebbs and flows.
But with the Penguins on a two-game skid, they’re switching things up a bit.
Penguins Make Evgeni Malkin Change
On Friday, the Penguins rolled with different power play units at morning skate in Columbus.
They’ll play the Blue Jackets on Friday night, and so what they had out there in the morning seem likely to hold true at puck drop.
Malkin had previously been playing on the second power play unit, but that has changed.
The first power play five is now:
- Sidney Crosby
- Evgeni Malkin
- Richard Rakell
- Ben Kindel
- Erik Karlsson
The Penguins had to drop Tommy Novak from the first unit to put Malkin up there.
Malkin is naturally a center, but he and Crosby have played together in the past and know how to work off of one another just fine.
The second power play group becomes:
- Tommy Novak
- Egor Chinakhov
- Bryan Rust
- Hendrix Lapierre/Ville Koivunen
- Kris Letang
Both units feature one veteran defenseman in Karlsson or Letang to run the show from the point along with four forwards.
The Penguins have adjusted their power-play units:
1) Karlsson, Crosby, Malkin, Rakell, Kindel
2) Letang, Novak, Chinakhov, Rust, Lapierre/Koivunen— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 9, 2026
Interesting Change
The actual change comes at a fascinating time. The Penguins enter Friday night ranked seventh in the NHL in the percentage of power plays they convert into goals.
Right now, they’re at 30.8% — that comes from being 4-for-13 in the early going on the power play.
Malkin has already scored two power play goals despite not being with the top unit.
Kindel also has a power play goal, as does Chinakhov.
Novak has two power play assists. So do Karlsson and Lapierre. Letang and Rakell each have one power play assist, as well.
Crosby has yet to notch a point on the power play. He does have two assists at even strength through four games this season.
It’s not clear how long the Penguins may go with this new lineup, but it’ll be fascinating to see how it works out Friday night in Columbus.
Penguins Make Big Evgeni Malkin Change With Sidney Crosby Impact