The Penguins welcomed back two more of their star players, but threw out the defense in a 6-5 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, Sunday afternoon.
Evgeni Malkin scored twice and added an assist in his first game since exiting Detroit with a lower body injury on December 14th. Kris Letang returned from an elbow infection to add an assist.
Most of the first period was dominated by the Winnipeg Jets, who were coming off a 4-1 loss to Boston the night before. Evander Kane had a breakaway chance within the two minutes of the game but was robbed on a glove save by Marc-Andre Fleury.
On the following shift, Jacob Trouba scored to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead just 1:47 into the game. Trouba received a pass from Olli Jokinen and shot the puck into a wide open net as Fleury was screened.
Late in the period, Sidney Crosby had a chance to tie the game with a penalty shot but missed the net on the stick side.
The Penguins looked to be heading into the first intermission down by just a goal; but a goal by Mark Scheifele with under four seconds to go gave the Jets a two goal lead.
Pittsburgh came out in the second period and scored three goals in the first five minutes. Evgeni Malkin stole the puck from Dustin Byfuglien then beat Al Montoya with a wicked wrist shot from the right-wing hashmark.
With the Penguins on the power play, James Neal received a pass from Kris Letang and beat Montoya with a perfectly placed snap shot. Neal scored 24 seconds later to give the Penguins lead when his attempted pass was deflected by a defenseman, sending the puck through the five hole of the goaltender.
The lead lasted just over a minute for the Penguins before Blake Wheeler blasted a loose puck past Fleury.
Five minutes later, Jussi Jokinen scored his third goal in the last two games. Jokinen’s shot from the slot deflected off of Scheifele and then Devin Setoguchi before knuckling over the goaltender.
The final few minutes were the Evander Kane show.
Kane scored on a breakaway after Brooks Orpik lost the puck at the blue line. Kane used his speed to get around Rob Scuderi then beat Fleury with a backhand shot.
Two minutes later, Kane beat Fleury with another backhand shot to give the Jets a 5-4 lead.
Malkin tied the score at five 8:29 into the third period. James Neal’s shot was stopped by Montoya but produced a big rebound. Malkin swooped in and just got enough of the puck to push it into the net for his second goal of the game.
Matt Niskanen scored what would eventually be the game-winning goal for the Penguins, three minutes later. Chris Kunitz battled for a loose puck off an offensive zone face-off. The puck eventually got out to Niskanen whose slap shot found its way through traffic and in the back of the net.
The Jets had a chance to tie the score in the final seconds but the puck was shot over the net and the Penguins escaped with their 12th straight home win.
- The win was Dan Bylsma’s 232, tying him with Eddie Johnston for the most in franchise history.
- The Penguins have given up five or more goals five times this season.
- Letang led the team with 24:31 of ice time.
Three Stars
- Evgeni Malkin
- James Neal
- Evander Kane
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
