Penguins star center Evgeni Malkin last spoke with the media On February 23, the day before Russia — Malkin’s home nation — began an invasion of Ukraine, culminating in a highly publicized and criticized war that has lasted over a month.
Malkin, despite scoring three goals and assisting another, again did not take the podium following the Penguins’ 11-2 win over Detroit Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.
Following the game, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was asked about if there have been conversations with Malkin regarding what has transpired overseas.
“We’ve had open discussions with Geno, with respect to this,” Sullivan said. “He knows that he has the full support of being part of the Pittsburgh Penguins family. We’re all concerned for him.
“I can’t imagine going through what he’s going through. He has family living in Russia, a country that’s at war right now and a real difficult circumstance, to no fault of his own, quite frankly.
“A lot of this stuff is bleeding into sports. Knowing Geno the way I know him, he loves being a hockey player, he loves doing what he does, and he loves his family.
Malkin did not play in the Penguins’ last game, a 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers, due to what the team categorized as a ‘non-COVID illness.’ He was listed as a game-time decision for Sunday’s contest.
The 35-year-old Magnitogorsk, Russia native has scored six goals over his last four games played, and now has 16 goals this season following Sunday's hat trick.
In 2017, Malkin expressed support for Russian president Vladimir Putin on social media.
“I’ve never hidden my attitude towards our president, always openly supporting him,” Malkin wrote on Instagram. “I am confident that there are many of us supporting Vladimir Putin. So let’s unite and show everyone a united and strong Russia!”
Malkin has turned off the ability for others to comment on or embed the post. However, the photo with he and the Russian president remains on his account.
Other Russian-born NHL players, such as Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, have spoken out against the war without mentioning Putin by name. Ovechkin’s profile photo on his Instagram account still features he and Putin. There is a thought that, if a prominent player speaks out against Putin, there could be retaliation against family still in Russia.
Sullivan was asked a follow-up question about the details of the conversations with Malkin, but would not dive deep into specifics.
“He’s not only a great person, he’s a great teammate, he’s a great Pittsburgh Penguin,” he added. “He has our full support.”