PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Evgeni Malkin returns from suspension and scores two goals and records an assist in the Pens 7-2 blowout win against Colorado.
Malkin made his presence felt immediately. Just 3:01 into the game he beat Scott Wedgewood with a no look backhander to get the Pens on the board first.
"He was awesome. It was great. He was flying out there. It wasn't a surprise at all. He's someone who just loves the game so much, he's a competitor. He had to sit there for 5 games and watch, you could see how excited he was to be back and it showed in his play," said head coach Dan Muse.
After Nathan Mackinnon tied the game a minute after Malkin's goal, the Pens got the lead back 15 seconds later. Erik Karlsson made a great pass behind the Pens net to Anthony Mantha for a breakaway goal. Mantha has now set a single seaosn best with his 26th goal of the year.
"It feels great, obviously a long road back this year. To be here right now the confidence is an all-time high," said Mantha. The confidence from my teammates and the coaching staff also, so for me it's to keep going, as a team obviously our goal is playoffs right now. We're heading in the right direction."
With 7:00 to in the first, Parker Wotherspoon threw the puck off the glass, Egor Chinakov got the puck against two defender and fed a pass to Malkin for his second goal of the game. 43 seconds later, Karlsson threw the puck on net and Elmer Söderblom got the rebound for his first goal as a Penguin.
"I thought he was really good, you jump on that line, new linemates, I thought obviously offensively he was awesome, to see him get his first goal, first assist, show up on the scoresheet, he's had a lot of chances," said Muse on Söderblom after the win.
Brent Burns added one back for the Avs to cut the Pens lead 4-2 after the first 20 minutes.
Halway through period 2, Ryan Shea made a pass from behind the blue line that went around the boards right to Erik Karlsson who fired a shot past Mackenzie Blackwood, who entered the game for Wedgewood. With 3:40 to play in the 2nd, Rickard Rakell intercepted Parker Kelly's pass in the Pens zone, he fed a pass to Malkin who then found Bryan Rust for the Pens 6th goal of the game. Noel Acciarri added one more in the 3rd for the 7-2 win.
Artūrs Šilovs made 25 saves in the win. He had allowed 4 goals against Buffalo and Boston and 5 against Vegas in his previous three games.
"Any time you can win on the road, or in general, playing against a team like that, coming out with two points, it's definitely (huge),” said Muse. “As you go through the course of the year, all of these things, they stack up. You own them, you own these experiences. You take it and you move it forward. I think the guys should take some confidence from it. Not just in one area, but a lot of different areas.”
The Pens sit 7 points behind the Hurricanes for first place in the Metro. They face each other Wednesday at 7:00 in Carolina.