Little did either player realize it, but they would someday be just four wins from the Stanley Cup Finals as members of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Someday has arrived, and Malkin has become one of the heroes of this NHL postseason, drawing praise for his skill with the puck, his vision on the ice, and his deceptive strength - not to mention a wicked slapshot.

The Flyers will have their hands full trying to contain not only Sidney Crosby, but also the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Malkin in the Eastern Conference finals.

Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who will miss the rest of the playoffs because of a blood clot in his left ankle and would have drawn the assignment on Malkin, said the young Russian reminded him of Peter Forsberg in his prime.

"That is a great comparison," Gonchar said yesterday. "Malkin has the same vision with his eyes, the way he passes the puck. He has the same capabilities. I agree with Timonen on that part.

"At the same time, Malkin reminds me of [Jaromir] Jagr, too, the way he can play a man one-on-one and beat him. He has a little bit of both. The thing about him is, he is only 21 with a bright future ahead of him."

A longtime Canadian journalist walked past Malkin in the dressing room yesterday and remarked that he was much bigger than he appeared on the ice, even with what Malkin has admitted are his long, skinny arms.

What makes the comparison to Forsberg so dead-on is that it is virtually impossible to knock Malkin off the puck, as is the case with Forsberg. But Malkin has a much harder shot.

"I wouldn't take anything away from Forsberg because he's an amazing hockey player," Crosby said when asked about the comparison.

Using Malkin's nickname, he added: "But Geno's got a shot that can also make him very dangerous. And I think Forsberg was more of a playmaker and scored a lot more in tight, whereas Geno can make you pay with a slapshot from the blue line."

Malkin, who hoisted the Penguins on his shoulders in the second half of the season and carried them to greater heights while Crosby was recuperating from a high-ankle sprain, enters the series tied with Crosby as Pittsburgh's leading scorer with 14 points. He has six goals.

"I never thought about it," Malkin said of the Forsberg comparison, using Gonchar, a fellow Russian, as a translator during lunch. "I just played my game and never think about that."

What about his shot, though? Forsberg never had a shot like that. Malkin smiled, lifting salad onto his plate in the Penguins' dining area.

"I always thought that I didn't have a very good shot," he said. "I have always tried to work on it and improve it."

A few feet away, Ryan Malone, who plays on Malkin's line, was laughing. He knew Malkin wasn't being serious with the Philadelphia reporter.

"Oh, he has a shot," Malone said with a laugh. "He says that to you guys. Everyone who plays with or against him realizes what a good shot he has. It's quick and it's hard. If I'm standing in front, I try to get out of the way."

Malone agreed with Timonen that Malkin provided an interesting comparison to Forsberg.

"Forsberg was really good seeing the ice," Malone said. "I remember playing against Forsberg my first couple years. He just put passes through them."