OTTAWA, Ontario — The pucks that refused to slip past Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson stuck with Evgeni Malkin more than the one shot from the Russian center that found the back of the net in Tuesday's 2-1 loss for the Penguins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final.

Malkin, credited with seven shots on goal, his highest total since Dec. 31 and as many as he tallied at any point this season, wondered what he and the Penguins needed to do differently to break the Senators netminder's spirits the way they did two days earlier in a 7-0 blowout. No one blamed Malkin for the lack of offense in Game 6, for not testing Anderson, who made a season-high 45 saves. Yet the star considered himself culpable.

"I did my best, but I feel like I can do more," Malkin said. "With power play, Sid give me great pass. It's like breakaway for me, and I shoot to glove. I need to use my chances a little bit more. Little bit of patience. I think I can score like two, three goals tonight. It's a little bit frustrating for me because (I had) so many chances."

The chance he converted largely stemmed from his own creativity and determination. He won an offensive-zone faceoff against Zack Smith and fought to get his stick back after the Ottawa center tried to steal it away. Then he chased down a loose puck in the corner of the zone, spun off a check from Smith, drove to the crease and threw a puck at Anderson's pads. The rebound kicked back to Malkin, who stickhandled around Anderson's extended left leg and flipped a backhand shot into the net.

Full sequence of Evgeni Malkin's opening goal. Domination. pic.twitter.com/G5mzd494Ge

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 24, 2017

His dominant goal, which came 4 minutes, 51 seconds into the middle period, set the tone for an overwhelming stretch of play from the Penguins, who held a 23-10 edge in shots on goal in the 20 minutes between intermissions.

"I thought he was a force," coach Mike Sullivan said. "He had a lot of opportunities. I think he has high expectations of himself. He had a lot of really good looks. He scores on goal. Could he have had more? Sure. But I liked the way he was playing. I thought he played a determined game."

Between the second and third periods, the Penguins settled into their dressing room certain someone would score. Malkin represented a promising candidate, but other lines also found a rhythm.

"Just keep going, keep trying to wear them down, keep getting pucks in the offensive zone," Bryan Rust said of the mood in the room. "We had a lot of confidence we were going to be able to get one, but unfortunately, we weren't able to."

That reality bothered Malkin more than most in the room. He headed to the team bus with an agenda for Thursday's Game 7 at PPG Paints Arena.

"One goal, it's not enough for us," Malkin said. "We need to score more. It (didn't) work today, but we need to watch video, do something different. The power play (was) not great tonight. We need to score more. If we want to win, we need to score more."

Bill West is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at wwest@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BWest_Trib.

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