Easily? You could certainly make a case using those stats I am sure...but most knowledgeable hockey people will tell you without hesitation that Malkin is and probably always will be the better 2 way player. Watching games will tell you more than the stat sheet. Experience means nothing. Jordan Staal is almost unarguably better than both of them and hes only 18.
I have watched Ovie play. It is just my honest opinion that he is a better two-way player right now. Malkin is making strides, and he should be better at the end of the season. But I strongly believe Ovie is better than Malkin defensively right now.
Experience has a ton to do with it. The different rink size has affected Malkin's game all year. I can't wait for when it doesn't. And he is definitely making strides defensively. He may be better than Ovie at the end of the year. Ovie right now is just very solid in his zone.
And say what you will, the hits and the takeaways just show how good of a player he is.
And Jordan Staal is easily better than both of them right now defensively in my opinion. Great PK'er. He is perfect on Malkin's line since he covers the zone well.
By the way, this isn't bias. I'm a Penguins fan. I'm not an Ovie fan boy. I like watching him play because he is entertaining, but I don't worship him. It is just my opinion that Ovie is better defensively right now. Easily. Ovie just does more. He may not at the end of the year, when Malkin adjusts to the style of play. But, right now, Ovie is above him.
And by easily, I mean easily a difference. I never said Malkin wasn't good in his zone. He played very well defensively against the Capitals of all teams, actually. I just said Ovie was better right now.
That is what happens when Malkin switches from wing to center to wing to center to wing in his rookie year while he is still trying to learn English.