Evgeni Malkin: I decided to take the game upon myself

Evgeni Malkin shines in Game 3 against the Washington Capitals

Evgeni Malkin says that in Game 3 against the Capitals he decided to take the game upon himself, describes his goal set up by Crosby, compares this series to the one against Philadeplhia, and states that the Penguins have learnt how to score against Varlamov.

- I decided to take the game upon myself this time. The previous games against the Capitals didn’t go too well for me. That’s why I decided to play the other way, tried to control the puck and hit more often.

- Moreover, in the middle of the second period you started juggling with the puck! You passed the defencemen as schoolboys. Have you felt confidence?

- Sure. If your game is going well you have to lead your line. My legs were bringing me to the offensive zone by themselves.

- Why didn’t you manage to win in regular time then?
- Varlamov played great. We created a lot of moments, outshot the opponent two times. But we weren’t lucky everywhere while Washington happened to get some luck with the first goal. They’ve got a rebound on an empty net.

- Describe your goal.
- Crosby brought two defencemen together and passed the puck to me so I’ve got some room in the offensive zone. I shot to the opposite to Varlamov’s movement side and the puck went in.

- How did you manage to shut down Ovechkin? He wasn’t as noticeable as in the last game, when he scored a hat-trick.
- Thank our defencemen. They didn’t give him any room at all and always played tough against him.

- Is this series harder then the previous one?
- Every round is harder than the previous one. It’s been a long season so the fatigue is growing and at the same time we have to play every other day. And also it’s harder because Washington plays faster then Philadelphia.

- But you’ve studied the Capitals game pretty much.
- Yes, now we know how they play and what to be expected. Varlamov has a good reaction on the first shot. We have to play slier and shot as often as possible. Varlamov has been great and all but he did make some mistakes in the first games.

- But you can explain this, he is only 21.
- Of course he is playing great. I’m happy for him. Actually his game was surprising for us. But now we got used to it and see no riddles.

Translated by Malkin-71.net