Evgeni Malkin has a message out to the rest of the NHL: he cannot be stopped and this won’t be a down year.
Malkin tallied four points and Jeff Zatkoff made 39 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins bludgeoned the Florida Panthers, 5-1, Saturday night in Ft. Lauderdale.
The Penguins were able to light the lamp several times, chasing Tim Thomas after two periods, despite being heavily outshot 40-22 in the contest.
That was attributed to the effort by Jeff Zatkoff, who looked completed different from the goaltender that surrendered six goals against the Panthers nearly two months ago.
Chris Kunitz scored on Pittsburgh’s only power play opportunity of the night. Tim Thomas turned the puck over to Malkin behind the net. Malkin centered for James Neal who may have bumped Thomas, and the puck came back out. Chris Kunitz flubbed the shot but got just enough on it to put the puck in the net.
The Penguins doubled their lead 32 seconds later when Jayson Megna and Joe Vitale crashed the net. Vitale batted the a loose puck back towards the net and the biscuit rolled behind the goaltender and in the net before a defenseman could clear it.
Malkin scored his seventh of the season 7:23 into the second frame. Malkin started the breakout in his own zone, carrying the puck to the opposing blue line before dishing to Olli Maatta. He received the return pass from Maatta, cut to the net, and slid a backhand shot past Tim Thomas for a highlight goal.
The Panthers scored with just over two minutes remaining in the second period to cut the deficit to two,however, any momentum gained by Florida was erased by James Neal 29 seconds later.
Malkin went behind the net and fed a perfect pass to Neal who blistered a shot top shelf for his eighth goal of the season.
Jussi Jokinen buried his ninth goal in the third period to put the game away; assisted by Malkin, of course.
- James Neal has six multi-point games in his last seven games.
- With four points on the night, Malkin is just one point back from tying the league lead in scoring.
- Jeff Zatkoff has allowed six goals in his last four games combined.
Three Stars
- Evgeni Malkin
- Jeff Zatkoff
- James Neal
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
