Capitals' Dave Steckel broke away from fellow centre Evgeni Malkin to score his team's first goal in their Eastern Conference semifinal opener on Saturday. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)

Relax, Pittsburgh Penguins fans, don't write off your team just yet. Maybe Evgeni Malkin is simply going through his annual post-season slump a little early this year.

While the Pittsburgh centre and this year's regular-season NHL scoring champion doesn't make a habit of being a non-factor for extended periods, Malkin was fairly quiet in last year's Eastern Conference final against Philadelphia.

"Maybe I'll play a little bit harder, maybe I'll have more hits," the flashy Russian said on the eve of Monday's Game 2 of an East semifinal at Washington (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET). "[But] I'm not going to change my game [significantly].

"I just need more shots and must play aggressively."

Perhaps Malkin could steal a page from his countryman Alex Ovechkin, who was the Capitals star — like he often is — in a 3-2 season-opening victory on Saturday.

Despite registering only two official hits, Ovechkin defined aggressive in his play, posting a game-high nine shots and two blocked shots in 21 minutes, 13 seconds of ice time.

Unlike Ovechkin, Malkin also paid for some lacklustre backchecking, as Washington centre David Steckel broke free from his opponent and scored the Capitals' first goal.

'It's always easy to point fingers'

But Malkin's teammate Sidney Crosby is far from worried. At least that is what he is saying publicly.

"He's a great player and he's consistent," said Crosby of Malkin, who is tied with Capitals winger Alexander Semin for second place in this year's playoff scoring race with 10 points in seven games. "It's always easy to point fingers and talk about guys when you lose but the fact is, it comes down to a couple of plays."

"You can never be satisfied with keeping him off the scoresheet or thinking you're playing well against him, because in a split-second he can do something amazing," added Capitals forward Matt Bradley, a former Penguin.

Crosby and Malkin are equally responsible for Pittsburgh's shaky power play, which failed to convert any of its five chances in Game 1 and hasn't scored in four games, going 0-for-17 in that time. During the regular season it ranked 20th in the 30-team NHL.

But give credit to a Capitals penalty kill that has allowed the opposition to score only twice in the last 32 power-play chances for a 93.8 per cent success rate.

At Sunday's practice, the Penguins' top power-play unit featured Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang at the points, along with Bill Guerin, Crosby and Malkin up front.

Average to above-average success on the power play could boost Pittsburgh's chances of a series win, especially if Washington continues with its uncharacteristic slow start.

Capitals slow to start

By the 13-minute mark on Saturday, the Capitals were down 1-0 on the scoreboard and 13-2 on the shot clock at the Verizon Center.

"It seems like it takes a goal [against] or for the other team to take momentum away from us in the first 10 to 15 minutes for us to wake up," Steckel told reporters.

During the regular campaign, Washington was one of the league's best teams in the opening 20 minutes with 86 first-period goals, second only to the East champion Boston Bruins (87).

A faster start might take some pressure off Capitals goaltender Simeon Varlamov, who doesn't seem to be feeling that much of it after taking over the starting assignment from Jose Theodore.

With Game 1 tied 2-2 and 2:03 left in the second period, the young Russian spun around, lunged to his right and managed to stop the puck with the heel of his stick at the goal line to rob Crosby.

In seven playoff starts following six career regular-season appearances, Varlamov is 5-2 with a 1.29 goals-against average and .950 save percentage. His four consecutive victories tied a franchise record.

"He made some big saves, key saves [in Game 1] and that means we've got to get more chances and second chances at him," said Penguins rookie head coach Dan Bylsma.

Malkin, admittedly, is at the top of the list when it comes to those chances.