Evgeni Malkin: It's playoff time, you have to win such games!

Evgeni Malkin: It's playoff time, you have to win such games!

Evgeni Malkin talks about the Pens comeback in the series-winning game against the Flyers, jokingly states that the players are being hungered by the team's officials and wishes good luck to Alexander Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals in the series against the New York Rangers.

The interview took place immediatly after the Penguins-Flyers game which took place on 25 April, 2009. The Penguins were trailing 0-3 but managed to score 5 goals and win the game and the series.

- How did you manage to change the game’s course?
- We had a talk in the locker room after the first period. Nobody was upset. On the contrary, we were pumped up for the game. It’s playoff time, you have to win such games.

- But it might seem that trailing 0:3 in playoffs is a quite hopeless situation…
- Seems like the Flyers thought so too. That’s their fault. They relaxed and believed they would win easily. While we, the other way around, focused on the game.

- There is summer at the street…
- Thank god! And we still wear suits. It’s time to put shorts on!

- What about the ice?
- There is summer too! The quality was low. By the end of the periods there was snow, the puck bounced and the sticks just glued to the ice.

- There is an “I’m hungry” signature on the Pens t-shirts. Does it mean the hunger for the Stanley Cup?
- (with a serious face) Nope, that’s a common hunger.

- But you are eating pop-corn now!
- That’s all I have now. They promised to pay us per diems only after the victory in the Stanley Cup. Then, they say, we will feed you. They are starving us! That’s why we are so angry and that’s why we win a lot.

- Do you follow the Capitals?
- Well, yes. We have a lot of spare time during playoffs in the evening. So I watch hockey.

- Will Ovechkin’s team be able to pass the first round and meet with the Pens?
- I think Washington will defeat the Rangers in 7 games. I wish good luck to Ovechkin. Maybe we’ll see each other. But don’t forget that now we have more days to rest, while the Capitals are condemned to play the seventh game. We will be resting and recovering meanwhile.

Translated by Malkin-71.net