From time to time, we've had the pleasure of getting some assistance from Dmitry Chesnokov, the Washington, DC correspondent for Sovetsky Sport, on obtaining English translations of interviews with Russian players. It's a real treat, as many Russian NHLers seem more comfortable talking to their countrymen than they do to the North American press.
Today, Chesnokov has provided us with a translation of an interview Sovetsky's Mikhail Bykov did with Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin following the team's loss earlier this week to the San Jose Sharks.
"We need to get out on the ice to play," - Malkin said with self criticism. "And we didn't look ourselves out there. Three shots in a period? This is horrible!"
Don't be so upset, you looked good on the same line with Crosby and Fedotenko...
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"And who feels better because of that? After we went down 2:0 our coach starting shuffling all lines, that's how we came up on the same line. We had to start playing more aggressive. But we have nothing to show for it. We have to work throughout the whole game and not save the motherland in the final five minutes. We had no shots on power play! This is awful!"
But Nabokov was very good.
"I do agree with that. Zhenya is one of the best goaltenders in the league and it is always very difficult to score one against him."
What is happening to Pittsburgh? You didn't start the season well, but then picked up some wins.
"Nevertheless, we lost the last two games. That's why I think that not everything is alright with the team. We were winning because we played teams weaker than us. But to compare with the league favorites we are considerably behind: we lost to the Rangers and the Sharks. We have enough problems. The only excuse we have is that we have a lot of injured players. But we have to play well even without them. We haven't changed anything in the way we play that took us last summer to the Stanley Cup Finals. That means we have to keep working and get some stability at last."
Malkin Frustrated with Pens' Play originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on 2008-10-30T06:35:00+00:00. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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