PITTSBURGH — This has been a disappointing season for Evgeni Malkin, whose disappearing act this calendar year is among the main reasons why the Penguins were playing in a battle of the Metropolitan Division basement Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.

But in their 3-2 win against the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets – their second straight victory – Malkin reminded everyone of the player he was in his prime.

And Malkin offered hope that maybe, just maybe, his star has not fully faded.

He scored twice in what was a dominant second period as an individual – and nearly netted a couple more. He skated with pep in his step and he stickhandled with swagger. Almost singlehandedly, Malkin snapped the Penguins out of their funk in the second period. Then they completed their comeback in the third.

The Penguins had their chances early, but Blue Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov kept them off the scoreboard. Two of his best saves came on Pittsburgh’s first power play. He scrambled to stop Bryan Rust and later Sidney Crosby in tight.

Alex Nedeljkovic was tested, too. At one point, he kicked out a try by Alexandre Texier, who had darted behind Malkin and the defense for a partial breakaway.

Malkin took over the game during the second period, keeping Pittsburgh in it.

Columbus became the first team to score when Mathieu Olivier batted the puck out of the air past Nedeljkovic. A video review was needed to confirm his goal.

Pittsburgh struck back a few minutes later with a power-play goal from Malkin.

With the Penguins in the midst of one of the worst power-play seasons in team history, Malkin was moved to the second power-play unit a few weeks ago. That had to be a shot to Geno’s ego. He still sees himself on being one of the NHL’s most dangerous players, with nearly 500 career power-play points as proof.

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