PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Malkin's overtime goal lifts Penguins over streaking Wild 4-3.
The Pens jumped on the scoreboard just 1:06 into the game as Rickard Rakell opened up the scoring on a five-hole goal past Cam Talbot making it 1-0 Penguins.
Brian Dumoulin got called for a hooking penalty and the Wild would tie the game on a controversial call that originally was called no goal. But after review Matt Dumba's poke of a loose puck crossed the goal line and resulted in a goal tying the game at 1-1.
It was a tightly called first period as there were five minor penalties.
A tripping penalty on Brandon Duhaime led to a Jake Guentzel power play goal as the Penguins took the lead 2-1 with 18:06 to play in the second period.
Minnesota had too many men on the ice on a rush and put the Penguins on another power play.
On a 2 on 1 rush the Penguins extended the lead to 3-1 as Sidney Crosby passed the puck to Rakell as he scored his second goal of the game. Behind the play Jason Zucker who had just returned after missing over two months got cross checked by Kevin Fiala into the boards and had to leave the game.
On a Wild rush a backhand pass that went by multiple players made its way to the other side of the net as Jordan Greenway scored. Mike Sullivan challenged the goal for the Wild being offside and after review the goal was wiped out, keeping the score still 3-1 Pens late in the second period.
Just seconds later the Wild scored a one-timer goal from Frederick Gaudreau cutting the Pens lead to 3-2 as the second period came to a close.
A little over a minute into the third period the Wild tied the game on a one-timer goal from Kirill Kaprizov as the Wild tied the game 3-3.
For a game that had as many penalties called as it did, the refs missed a clear penalty on the Wild as Jake Guentzel had a clear path to the net and was dragged down by his jersey.
60 minutes was not enough time to declare a winner as this one was headed to overtime.
In the 3 on 3 overtime, Evgeni Malkin behind the net swung around and was denied by Talbots skate but Malkin continued to chip away at the loose puck and got it past Cam Talbots left skate as the Penguins beat the Wild 4-3 in overtime, snapping Minnesota's seven game win streak.
Mike Sullivan loved the effort from the team in the win.
"I thought it was a great hockey game on both sides," said Sullivan. "That's a really good team. I thought our team played hard tonight. We didn't get deflated when we got scored against, we just kept playing the game."
Injury Report
Zucker returned after a two month hiatus from an injury and unfortunately was injured in the game when he was cross checked into the boards. Mike Sullivan said he is being evaluated and hopes it isn't something too significant.
"He means so much to our team," said Jake Guentzel. "You lose a guy like that and see him go down it's tough. It was nice to get the win for him."
DeSmith Shines In Win
Casey DeSmith got the start on Thursday and was extremely efficient in the game as he made 28 saves on 31 shots.
"I'm happy with how I played," said DeSmith. "I thought it was a playoff hockey feel out there. A lot of shots, a lot of net traffic , physicality, it was a really good game."
Malkin Makes History
Evgeni Malkin made history with his game winning overtime goal as he scored his 78th career game-winning goal tying Jaromir Jagr for the most in franchise history.
Up Next
A big showdown in Denver Colorado on Saturday as the Penguins take on the best record in hockey, the Colorado Avalanche at 3:00. Colorado is coming off a 4-2 win over San Jose on Thursday.
