{"id":541369,"date":"2026-04-05T02:55:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T02:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/541369\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T02:55:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T02:55:17","slug":"crosby-malkin-milestones-push-penguins-closer-to-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/541369\/","title":{"rendered":"Crosby, Malkin Milestones Push Penguins Closer to Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2014 In an offensive onslaught, including six second period goals and an Evgeni Malkin hat trick, the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> (39-22-16) cruised to a 9-4 over the Florida Panthers<\/a> (37-35-3) to inch ever so closer to their first playoff berth since the 2021-22 season.<\/p>\n

The power play scored three times, Malkin and Erik Karlsson<\/a> had four points (1G, 3A), and four other players registered two points in the offensive outburst. The Penguins have won three of their four games so far this week, scoring a combined 22 goals in the victories. <\/p>\n

Just 20 seconds into the game the Penguins struck first when Noel Acciari<\/a> (12) took a beautiful tip pass from Elmer Soderblom<\/a> in the neutral zone, broke into the Panthers\u2019 zone and wristed a shot on Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, followed his own rebound, and then, almost in slow motion, backhand flipped the puck up and over an upright Bobrovsky to give the Penguins a very early 1-0 lead. <\/p>\n

With Panthers defenseman Mike Benning in the box for boarding Bryan Rust, the Penguins\u2019 eighth-ranked power play went to work. Karlsson took a Sidney Crosby<\/a> pass from the bottom of the right circle and blasted a 92.9 MPH slap shot from the top of the right circle that clanged off the left post and in at 5:06 of the first to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. <\/p>\n

The momentum the Penguins gained from the power play goal was short-lived, as the Panthers would get the next two goals. Just 2:04 after the Penguins got their second goal, the Panthers got their first. Cole Reinhardt<\/a> took a seemingly harmless wrist shot from distance, however the resulting rebound off the left pad of Penguins\u2019 goaltender Arturs Silovs<\/a> bounced into the slot where Panthers forward A.J. Greer<\/a> (15) tapped it past Silovs, halving the Penguins\u2019 lead, 2-1. Next, it was Seth Jones (7) taking a shot from the point that deflected off the glove of Rickard Rakell and past Silovs to knot the game at two at 14:31 of the first.<\/p>\n

While the Penguins relinquished a two-goal lead in the first period, they got the six-consecutive goals in the second to build an insurmountable lead. First, they got some puck luck early in the frame when Anthony Mantha<\/a> (31) took a shot from the left wing boards that hit Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling, changed direction, and slid through the legs of Bobrovsky to put the Penguins back ahead, 3-2 at 1:51 of the second.<\/p>\n

Next, the power play scored for the second time in as many tries, and this time it was a truly historic goal created by three future hall of fame players. Karlsson masterfully kept the puck in at the blue line, skated towards the net and let go a wrist shot that was intentionally wide and right to the stick of Evgeni Malkin (16), who was calling for the puck near the right post. Malkin then tilted the blade of his stick upwards and deflected the Karlsson shot-pass over Bobrovsky and just under the crossbar. The goal was the 1,400th career point for Malkin, joining Crosby and Mario Lemieux as the only players in franchise history to reach the milestone and just the third active player to do so, joining Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. He also became just the 23rd\u00a0player in NHL history, and 15th\u00a0fastest, to reach the 1,400-point plateau. Also on the goal, Sidney Crosby got the secondary assist, pushing him to 1,756 points, surpassing\u00a0Steve Yzerman<\/a>\u00a0for seventh place on the NHL\u2019s all-time points list. Crosby also passed Yzerman for the second-most points with a single franchise, trailing only Gordie Howe\u2019s 1,809 with Detroit. <\/p>\n

Malkin (17) also got the next goal, driving hard to the net and deflecting a Tommy Novak shot in off his shin pad at 8:27. Just 1:26 later, the fourth line got its second goal of the game when Soderblom (5) skillfully used his 6\u20198\u2033 frame to reach his stick out to deflect a Connor Dewar shot over Bobrovsky to put the Penguins ahead, 6-2. That goal got Bobrovsky pulled in favor of Daniil Tarasov. These four goals for the Penguins came in a span of 8:02. However, they were not done with second period scoring. At 17:48 Rakell<\/a> made the power play a perfect 3-3 when he scored his 22nd. Then just 19 seconds later Ryan Shea<\/a> (6) snuck a shot past Tarasov to close out a six-goal second period for the Penguins. <\/p>\n

Malkin (18) completed the hat trick at 3:30 of the third when he picked the puck from Panthers defenseman Mike Benning and deked forehand to backhand and slid the puck past Tarasov to put the Penguins ahead 9-2. It was Malkin\u2019s 14th career hat trick, tying him with Crosby and multiple other players for the 46th-most hat tricks in NHL history. He also became the oldest player in Penguins\u2019 history to record a hat trick. <\/p>\n

The Panthers got third period goals from Noah Greger (4) and Mackie Samoskevich (10) to make it a 9-4 game, but that is as close as they would get. <\/p>\n

In a unique scheduling quirk, the Penguins and Panthers will face each other again tomorrow afternoon at PPG Paints Arena before getting a rare three-day break. Depending on tomorrow\u2019s result and the results of several other games, the Penguins could potentially have clinched a playoff spot by the time they hit the ice in New Jersey on Thursday. <\/p>\n

Notes<\/p>\n

The Penguins\u2019 lines and defensive pairings on Saturday were as follows:<\/p>\n

Forwards<\/p>\n

Egor Chinakhov \u2013 Sidney Crosby \u2013 Bryan Rust<\/p>\n

Tommy Novak \u2013 Ben Kindel \u2013 Evgeni Malkin<\/p>\n

Anthony Mantha \u2013 Rickard Rakell \u2013 Justin Brazeau<\/p>\n

Elmer Soderblom \u2013 Connor Dewar \u2013 Noel Acciari<\/p>\n

Defensemen<\/p>\n

Parker Wotherspoon \u2013 Erik Karlsson<\/p>\n

Sam Girard \u2013 Kris Letang<\/p>\n

Ryan Shea \u2013 Connor Clifton<\/p>\n

Additional Notes<\/p>\n

The four-point game for Malkin was his 32nd such game and first since February 27, 2025. <\/p>\n

The nine goals against the Panthers were the most the Penguins have ever scored against them. The previous high was seven goals, accomplished on three different occasions.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: erik karlsson<\/a> Evgeni Malkin<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> Sidney Crosby<\/a> <\/p>\n

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