I'm not sure why
@Jesse would call this an article of 'uncomfortable truths' in his tweet last night.
He basically said that Malkin traditional response to being snakebitten (being desperate to have the puck on his stick and desperate to create offense) is why he's forcing shit with the puck and cheating offensively all over the ice in terms of his defensive responsibility.
When you do these overly risky things and they don't work out, you're automatically way out of position defensively, which I assume is why
@Jesse prefaced the article by noting that tape shows Malkin is, for the most part, following his defensive responsibilities and any gaffes in terms of not recognizing an assignment are no more widespread than most at this juncture.
Frankly, the uncomfortable truth that
@Jesse advertised in all of this is that this 6 game stretch is worse in terms of the defensive metrics than any 6 game stretch in the last two years (not emphasized is that his offensive production may be its worst for any 6 game stretch of the last two years).
Last tidbit: Malkin's best partners this season have been Pets and Ruh, the safest defensemen. His worst? John Marino, especially in the last two games. Unmentioned is who Marino's partner has been (cc:
@Gurglesons).
Anyway, the good news, from my perspective, is that
@Jesse's article implies that the tape shows Malkin's issues are not about him being lazy per se or falling off a cliff (and needing to move to wing as my friend
@ColePens recently opined
).
I also wonder (and this wasn't a topic of the article) if THIS is the reason for Sullivan's tone on Malkin, that for all of his gifts, Malkin's fatal flaw is when it isn't happening for him offensively, his instinct always has been to force things offensively when the answer always is to be patient, simplify things offensively, and just play it safe defensively and let the offense come when it comes. In a way, this is an argument against Jake playing with him at a time like this (when both he and, until last game, Sid were struggling, because if anything having Jake would encourage Malkin to force things and cheat offensively even more).
When you consider Sullivan's tone and talk of trying to find combinations, it's like he's recognizing 'I just have to find that spark' (this is something Michel Therrien, for all his faults, always understood, although I'll add it was a lot easier trying to do it for a 20 year old Evgeni Malkin).
Anyway, it's a highly insightful article from
@Jesse, especially when you compare it to some of the crap that passes for hockey insight from others in the media.
, task complete and maybe the confidence starts to build.
