No Malkin? No problem.
With the hottest scorer in the league out of the lineup with a lower body injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins destroyed the San Jose Sharks 5-1, Thursday night.
The Sharks, boasting a 19-3-5 record and six consecutive victories, were shut down by Marc-Andre Fleury and allowed four goals in the opening seven and a half minutes of the second period.
San Jose was strong early on, dominating zone time in the first half of the first period. But Fleury was up the task, stopping all seven shots in the first period.
Just 27 seconds into the second period, Pascal Dupuis tipped a shot by Brooks Orpik past Anti Niemi to break the scoreless tie and open up the flood gates.
Two minutes later, the Penguins pounced on a neutral zone turnover by former Penguin Tyler Kennedy and came back with a three on one rush. Jayson Megna skated down the left side and fired a perfectly placed shot over Niemi’s shoulder.
Less than two minutes later, Chris Kunitz added his fifteenth goal of the season. Sidney Crosby handled a loose puck and took a shot on goal. Niemi produced a big rebound and Kunitz kicked the puck to his stick and quickly backhanded the biscuit into a wide open net.
Kunitz scored again while the Penguins were on the power play to increase the lead to four.
Tomas Hertl scored his fourteenth of the season less than two minutes later to cut the deficit to three but the Sharks would get no further thanks to outstanding play by Marc-Andre Fleury.
Kris Letang netted his fifth goal of the season with a shot through traffic early in the third period.
The Penguins shut the door the rest of the way and left with a five game winnings streak.
- Sidney Crosby played in his 500th game of his career. He has the second most points in Penguins history at the 500 game mark, second to Mario Lemieux.
- Chris Kunitz has a six game point streak.
- Jayson Megna was called up to fill a spot for Evgeni Malkin who was injured in the morning skate.
Three Stars
- Marc-Andre Fleury
- Chris Kunitz
- Sidney Crosby
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
