Evgeni Malkin’s natural hat trick in the third period ended Tampa Bay’s quest for a comeback win as the Penguins won back to back games for the first time since Dec 27th. In a game that saw seven total goals in the final period, Malkin was right in the thick of things including a dazzling second goal to put the Pens up 5-3.
The Penguins got out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first period on goals from James Neal and Richard Park. With the Pens on the powerplay, Neal one timed a pass from Paul Martin while standing on the goal line. The puck baffled former Penguin backup goalie, Mathieu Garon, as it ricocheted off is pads and in the net. For Neal, it was his league leading 12th powerplay goal of the season.
Eight minutes later, Richard Park scored on a nifty wrist shot and the Pens were off and running. With the Pens still leading 2-0, James Neal scored 34 seconds into the third period on a one timer set up by Evgeni Malkin. With the score at 3-0, and the Penguins heavily dominating most of the game, the third period looked to be nothing more than a formality.
Tampa Bay had different plans.
Within five minutes, the Lightning came back to tie the game at 3-3 with goals from Matt Gilroy, Ryan Malone and Teddy Purcell. The newly renamed Tampa Bay Times Forum appeared to have life from a sold out crowd of 19000+, albeit many dressed in Penguins garb.
Any withstanding joy from the home crowd, however, was short lived. Just 48 seconds after the Lightning tied the game, Evgeni Malkin went to work. With two assists already accounted for, Malkin took the puck along the near boards, skated towards the middle of the ice and fired a backhand shot past the pad of Garon. Less than two minutes later, Malkin received a stretch pass from Brooks Orpik as the Lightning were changing lines. “Geno” charged towards Garon and scored on a diving backhand goal while being tripped by Bruno Gervais.
Just like that, Malkin had completely taken over the game, and the Lightning unraveled.
Vincent Lecavalier took a run at Malkin out of what seemed to be pure frustration on the part of a captain fighting to get out of the Eastern Conference basement. Malkin dodged the check but Lecavalier continued to pursue him in an effort to have the young Russian fight. In the end, Malkin ended up in the penalty box for roughing while Lecavalier was given a game misconduct. Shortly thereafter, James Neal and Pavel Kubina were given game misconducts after exchanging words while the Penguins were on the powerplay.
As both sides seemed to cool down, Malkin put the finishing touches on a masterful performance, scoring his third goal on an empty net from center ice. In the end, Evgeni Malkin finished with 3 goals, 2 assists, 2 penalty minutes, +3 and six shots. With today’s 5 point game, Malkin is now only one point behind league leader Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks.
- With the win, Pittsburgh is currently back in a playoff spot, leapfrogging the Capitals and Maple Leafs for seventh place.
- James Neal’s 23rd and 24th goals of the season tie him with Phil Kessel for second most in the NHL.
- Steven Stamkos, the NHL goal scoring leader, was held to zero shots while Lecavalier and St. Louis had four shots combined.
- Marc-Andre Fleury is still one shutout shy of tying Tom Barrasso for the franchise career record.
- The Penguins host the Carolina Hurricanes in their next game on Tuesday.
- Ray Shero announced on a local Pittsburgh station that he anticipates having Kris Letang return to practice sometime this week.
Photo courtesy of cbc.com
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