Penguins beat Blackhawks in Evgeni Malkin's 1,000th game

Evgeni Malkin might not be what he was for the bulk of his first 999 career games as an NHLer.

After all, at 36, he’s closer to the end than he is the beginning. Or even the middle.

But that doesn’t mean the superstar center doesn’t still have something substantial to offer to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“He’s such a dominant player when he’s playing well,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said to media at Chicago’s United Center Sunday afternoon. “And I still think he has that game in him.”

Malkin’s 1,000th game was a successful affair for himself and his team as the Penguins claimed a 5-3 victory and extended a modest winning streak to a season-best three games.

A goal by Malkin extended a scoring streak to seven games and further galvanized — even if just incrementally — his legacy as one of the greatest players of his generation.

“It’s an awesome achievement,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said to media in Cranberry on Wednesday in advance of Malkin’s milestone. “Given what he’s gone through to get to it too, a lot of guys might not play at this point having to play through what he has. It’s an achievement in itself, but especially what he had to go through to get there.”

The Penguins took the contest’s first lead 1:04 into regulation during the midst of a line change. After Blackhawks forward Taylor Raddysh lost a puck at the Penguins’ blue line, Crosby settled it in front of the visiting penalty box and moved it forward to linemate Rickard Rakell. Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Rakell dealt it across the ice to forward Brock McGinn, who was surging off the bench. With ample space to operate with in the left circle, McGinn wound up and whacked a slapper past rookie goaltender Arvid Soderblom’s blocker on the near side for his sixth goal of the season and fifth goal in his past six games. Rakell and Crosby had assists.

Malkin’s eighth goal of the season put the Penguins up 2-0, 2:27 into the second period during another line change. Penguins fouth-liner Ryan Poehling lugged the puck from his own blue line up the left wing into the offensive zone and swooped behind the cage. Emerging to the right of the net, Poehling slipped a clever pass past former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Jarred Tinordi to the slot. Malkin darted past the reach of Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson and jabbed a forehand shot by Soderblom’s blocker. Poehling and rookie defenseman P.O Joseph netted assists.

The Penguins went up by a field goal 1:40 later thanks to Rakell’s eighth goal. Settling a puck at the right point of the offensive zone on his backhand, Marcus Pettersson flipped it to his forehand and slid it to Crosby on the right half wall. Veering across the top of the right circle, Crosby snapped a seam pass to the bottom of the left circle where Rakell rocked a one-timer past Soderblom’s left skate on the near side. Assists went to Crosby and Pettersson.

The Blackhawks got on the scoreboard at 9:39 of the second period. After Penguins defenseman Kris Letang knocked Dickinson off a puck on the Penguins’ end boards, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel claimed it in the left corner but fed an errant pass to the left circle where it was accepted by Blackhawks forward Jujhar Khaira. As Pettersson knocked the puck off Khaira’s stick, Dickinson jumped all over it, skated across the front of the crease then turned to his right to feed a tight-area pass back to Khaira above the front of the crease. With goaltender Casey DeSmith slow to react to Dickinson’s pass, Khaira plunked in an easy forehand shot for his second goal. Dickinson had the lone assist.

Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane scored his third goal on a four-on-four sequence at 16:36 of the second to pull his team within one. Off a cycle from the Penguins’ right circle, Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy offloaded a pass to Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews who then slipped a clever backhand pass past a stumbling Pettersson to the front of the crease where Kane snapped a slick wrister beyond the reach of DeSmith’s blocker. Toews and Murphy tallied assists.

Good fortune for the Blackhawks led to things being tied, 3-3, at 15:49 of the final frame. Chasing down a puck dumped into his own end boards, Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry fumbled possession thanks to a forecheck by Raddysh. That allowed Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev to claim it in the left corner. From a bad angle, Kurashev threw the puck into the crease where it clunked off DeSmith’s left skate and deflected into the cage. Kurashev was credited with his third goal. There were no assists.

Crosby had no desire to let this contest venture into overtime and reclaimed a lead, 4-3, only 57 seconds later. Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Guentzel fed a pass to Crosby above the left circle. Using Blackhawks defenseman Caleb Jones as a screen, Crosby snapped off a wrister from the faceoff dot that Soderblom denied. Surging past an overwhelmed Jones, Crosby recovered his own rebound on his forehand, flipped the puck to his backhand and tucked a shot past the left skate of a scrambling Soderblom for his team-leading 10th goal. Guentzel and Letang had assists.

An empty net goal by Penguins forward Jeff Carter, his third of the season, capped the scoring at 19:43 of the third. Crosby and Letang collected assists.

DeSmith improved his record to 3-4-1 by making 29 saves on 32 shots as the Penguins finished their three-game road trip with a perfect mark.

For Malkin, this triumph left a mark for reasons far more profound.

“It’s amazing,” Malkin said to media in Chicago after the game. “I feel like it’s yesterday that I played my first game and tonight, it’s (the) 1,000th game. It’s just crazy how fast time (goes). Lots of good memories.”

Notes:

• As the game began, the Penguins issued a statement on behalf of franchise pillar Mario Lemieux, now a minority owner in the club:

“It seems like only yesterday that a young man from Magnitogorsk came to Pittsburgh to have such an amazing impact on our franchise. You’re not only one of the greatest players in Penguins history, you’re one of the greatest in the history of the NHL — and a huge part of those three Stanley Cup championships (2009, 2016 and 2017). Thank you for everything you have done for the team and the city. … And here’s to many more, my friend.”

• During pregame warm-ups, the Penguins, to a man, mimicked Malkin’s unique routine to loosen up:

• Prior to the game, the Blackhawks retired the No. 81 of former forward Marian Hossa. A vital component of the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015, Hossa was briefly a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins late during the 2007-08 season and helped the franchise reach at Stanley Cup final.

• The Penguins were 4 for 4 on the penalty kill. They have gone a season-best four games without allowing an opposing power-play goal and are 10 for 10 on the penalty kill over that span.

• The Penguins went just over 13 years between wins in Chicago, going 0-8-0 over that span. Their last road victory against the Blackhawks was a 5-4 overtime win on Feb. 27, 2009. As forward Chris Kunitz made his debut with the Penguins, Malkin scored in overtime to win the game.

• Following Sunday’s win, the Penguins’ longest active losing road streak by time is now a four-year gap against the Los Angeles Kings. Their last road victory in the City of Angels was a 3-1 win, Jan. 18, 2018.

• The Penguins’ healthy scratches were forward Kasperi Kapanen and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel.

• Kapanen, who carries a salary cap hit of $3.2 million, has been a healthy scratch for six of the past seven games.

• Khaira appeared in his 300th career game.