Evgeni Malkin and Tommy Novak both scored a goal and added an assist to lead the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins a tidy 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.
Egor Chinakhov and Bryan Rust also scored for the Penguins, who have netted points in five straight games and are on a 9-2-2 run since the holiday break.
Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 18 saves to win for the sixth time in seven starts, and Jack St. Ivany collected a pair of assists.
Yegor Sharangovich replied for the Flames, who have scored only one goal in two consecutive outings, losing both.
Goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 21 shots in the loss.
The Penguins had the early edge in momentum and were rewarded when Malkin opened the scoring with a nifty deflection from the slot of Ryan Shea’s point shot at 7:49 of the clash.
Chinakhov doubled the lead just past the midway point of the second period with his fourth goal in 11 outings since being acquired by Pittsburgh via trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets in late December. The puck came to Chinakhov in the slot thanks to a pretty passing play and he quickly unloaded a shot that found the mark.
Sharangovich gave the Flames much-needed life with his third goal in four games by deflecting Zach Whitecloud’s point shot into the net with 2.7 seconds remaining in the second period. It is Whitecloud’s first point since being acquired via trade from the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
However, Rust restored Pittsburgh’s two-goal edge 50 seconds into the third period when his wraparound banked into the cage off a defender and Wolf into the net.
Novak rounded out the scoring at 9:19 of the final frame by converting a slick back-hand shot from in close while leading a 3-on-1 rush.
–Field Level Media
