Crosby has joked that he might bring it out in guys, who could pick up a few themselves once they start spending time around him. And since Malkin has been his teammate for 17 years and counting at this point, it's understandable that he has a few. And with both Malkin and the Penguins on quite the run, there have been two new additions to his routine this past month.
The Penguins have won seven of eight, and have points in 17 of their last 20 games overall (15-3-2). Malkin has been a huge part of that success, entering tonight's matchup with Carolina riding a nine-game point streak, picking up three goals and 10 assists in that span.
It's the longest point streak by a Penguin this season, and during the second game of this stretch, Malkin jazzed up his tape job. Usually, he goes with plain white tape. But for the Dec. 3 game against St. Louis, he added vertical black stripes, saying, "I just try, it's more fun." Malkin collected three assists in a 6-2 win, and has stuck with it ever since.
"It looks cool. I don't know, I feel better," he said. "My blade, it's like, stiffer. I feel like I can shoot harder."
Then, starting with the home-and-home series against the Sabres, assistant coach Ty Hennes gets Malkin some popcorn before every game.
"As a coaching staff, our responsibility is to try to make them feel prepared and confident. So, whatever makes these guys feel prepared and more confident, we'll stick with it," Hennes said with a smile.
When the Penguins are at home, a team staffer grabs a cup of popcorn from Suite 66 and leaves it on Hennes' desk in his office. Malkin then stops by to pick it up after their pregame team meeting at 5:30 PM.
"He just needs a little bit. What he does with it, I have no idea," Hennes said with a laugh. "But it's just my job to make sure the popcorn is there."
On the road, the process isn't quite as streamlined. During the second game of this new routine on Dec. 9 in Buffalo, Malkin came up asking for popcorn, and it ended up being a bit of an all hands on deck effort to find some. They eventually procured some from the press box, and Geno went on to record two assists that night.
"Now, everyone's a little more prepared and ready to make sure that Geno is ready," Hennes said.
Whether these are superstitions or just routines at this point, you be the judge. In the meantime, grab some popcorn of your own, and get ready for the Geno show.
