In the shadows of Marc-Andre Fleury’s somewhat surprising new long-term contract extension, Patric Hornqvist’s seamless assimilation into the Pittsburgh arsenal and Sidney Crosby’s Sidney Crosbyness, Evgeni Malkin is plying his trade as sharply as ever.
While serving the Minnesota Wild their first home loss of the season Tuesday, the Penguins stretched their winning streak to five games, the same length of Crosby and Hornqvist’s point streaks.
But that duo’s heat has nothing on the feverish pace of Malkin, who has collected points in 11 games running, tying him with Phil Kessel for third overall in the Art Ross race.
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Malkin, who won both the Hart and Art Ross trophies in 2012, finished 15th overall in scoring last season and 64th in 2012-13, so it’s refreshing to see one of the world’s most dangerous talents healthy and back in elite form.
Adding to Pittsburgh’s offensive dominance is a defensive crackdown overseen by new coach Mike Johnston. The Pens enjoyed a silly-good 205:28 minute shutout streak this week, thanks to Fleury and backup Thomas Greiss, and they potting 18 unanswered goals during that span.
Here are this week’s power rankings, with write-ups torn exclusively from each club’s Twitter account — a 140-character-or-less snippet that captures their team’s week.
| Rank | Team | Previous | |
| 1 |  |
“The Pens PP is 45.5% on the road and is ranked 1st in the NHL.” |
6 |
| 2 |  |
“Ten goals, two hat tricks and the @nhl’s First Star for the month of October. Not bad, Corey Perry, not bad.” |
1 |
| 3 |  |
“Nikita Kucherov growing in confidence, scoring goals.” |
5 |
| 4 |  |
“Awesome Alert – @RyanMiller3039 is first #Canucks goalie to win 9 of his first 10 starts.” |
9 |
| 5 |  |
“Impressed by @tara9191’s goal? You should see what his teammates say! RT because who wouldn’t want to see it again.” |
16 |
| 6 |  |
“The #LAKings win their first road game. Adjust your power rankings accordingly.” |
2 |
| 7 |  |
” ‘Our guys never quit.’ – Bob Hartley comments on the #Flames 4-3 comeback win over the #Caps” |
19 |
| 8 |  |
“Yeo: Parise not on the road trip (upper body injury). Meeting with doctors today.” |
3 |
| 9 |  |
“[Patrick] Sharp out for ‘a bit.’ “ |
7 |
| 10 |  |
“Carey Price n’est pas humain. / Carey Price is not human. #GoHabsGo” |
4 |
| 11 |  |
“For the second time in less than a week, Brad Marchand nets an OT winner for the #NHLBruins.” |
18 |
| 12 |  |
” ‘We’re going to face it throughout the year. Good teams turn it into positives.’ – @Logancouture on #SJSharks & adversity” |
10 |
| 13 |  |
“#Preds fall to the #NHLJets 3-1, but Filip Forsberg produced another amazing goal.” |
8 |
| 14 |  |
“The #Sens have informed forward Curtis Lazar that he will remain with the team through his 10-game mark.” |
11 |
| 15 |  |
“There’s still work to be done” – #NYR @DerekStepan21 discusses injury recovery.” |
21 |
| 16 |  |
“Congrats to @Datsyuk13, who was named the @NHL’s Second Star of the Week! The Magic Man had 4 goals and 3 assists in just 3 games” |
14 |
| 17 |  |
” ‘It’s a huge impact on our game. How we look: big and fast. He’s the poster guy for that’ – Maurice on having Kane back” |
24 |
| 18 |  |
“. RT @dalter: First time this season the #leafs don’t win when Phil Kessel gets a point” |
20 |
| 19 |  |
“GOAL! Voracek again!” |
12 |
| 20 |  |
“Tavares rings one off the crossbar in the final seconds of the first. Quarter of an inch downward and we tie the game.” |
13 |
| 21 |  |
“DeBoer: ‘That’s the best team game we’ve put together in a long time. Individually, [Henrique-Elias-Ryder] I thought was our best line.’ “ |
22 |
| 22 |  |
“Tickets for games through December and January are ON SALE now!” |
17 |
| 23 |  |
“.@ovi8 is the Caps franchise points leader w/ 826 career points. #AllTimeGr8” |
15 |
| 24 |  |
“The #FlaPanthers have at least one point in every road game that they have played this season.” |
26 |
| 25 |  |
“Nick Foligno is tired of the excuses.” |
25 |
| 26 |  |
“100% of precincts reporting: It’s a #Canes WIN!” |
30 |
| 27 |  |
“Dave Tippett: ‘For the most part it was an improvement and there’s still improvement needed, but (we’re) moving in the right direction.’ “ |
28 |
| 28 |  |
“We have to believe, and we hope that #AvsNation believes as well, because we got to work today.” |
27 |
| 29 |  |
“With Hall out of the lineup, Coach Eakins says the #Oilers will recall a winger to play with Leon & Nail while keeping 23-27-6 together.” |
23 |
| 30 |  |
” ’24 minutes of work a day is not too hard… 24 minutes out of a 24-hour day.’ More Nolan pregame comments” |
29 |