Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Evgeni Malkin continued his torrid rookie
campaign with a goal and an assist to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-2
victory over the New Jersey Devils at Mellon Arena.
Malkin, the No. 2 pick in the 2004 draft, behind last season's Calder Trophy
winner Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, has scored a goal in
each of his first four games this season. He is the first rookie to achieve
that feat since Steven King did it on the New York Rangers in December of
1992.
He missed the first four games of the season with a shoulder injury he
suffered in the preseason.
Sidney Crosby and Nils Ekman each had a goal and an assist and Marc-Andre
Fleury stopped 20 shots for the Penguins, who have won their last three games.
The last time Pittsburgh won three straight games was from March 19-23, 2004.
The Penguins also stopped a four-game losing streak against New Jersey.
Scott Gomez and Sergei Brylin each had a goal and Martin Brodeur made 21 saves
for the Devils, who have lost three straight and four of their last five
games.
The Devils drew first blood at the 7:40 mark of the first period. Brad
Lukowich fought off a checker along the right boards and got the puck back to
Brian Gionta at the left point. Gionta let fly a blast that Fleury made a save
on, but the rebound went out front and Gomez poked it in for his third goal of
the season.
The Penguins, though, tied the game on a goal by Ekman. On a 2-on-1 rush,
Ekman skated into the zone and snapped the disc by a defenseman and beat
Brodeur on the stick side for his second goal of the season with 6:23 left in
the first.
Pittsburgh grabbed a 3-1 lead in the second with a pair of pretty goals.
Malkin brought the puck into the New Jersey end on the left side and dropped
it to Ray Whitney, who immediately fed it back to Malkin at the left circle.
Malkin held the puck for a moment, spotted Crosby cutting into the zone on the
right side and snapped the puck to Crosby, who one-timed it into the net just
1:26 in.
A little over three minutes later, Ekman dumped the puck into the Devils end
and Mark Recchi chased it down. Recchi grabbed the puck and fed it to Ekman at
the left circle and Ekman fed it to Jordan Staal cutting in on the right wing.
Staal one-timed it into the left corner of the net for his fourth goal of the
season.
The Penguins limited the Devils to just four shots in the middle stanza,
despite being shorthanded three times.
New Jersey cut its deficit to 3-2 when Brylin's centering pass from behind
the net bounced off Mark Eaton and hopped over the left skate of Fleury
just over eight minutes into the third.
Pittsburgh, though, regained its two-goal advantage when the two young centers
hooked up.
Crosby started to skate out of the Pittsburgh end and spotted Malkin in the
neutral zone. He hit Malkin with a pass and, with two defenders trying to
cover him, Malkin deked his way past one defender, then went to the forehand
to get Brodeur on the ice and, on the backhand, tapped the puck past the left
pad of Brodeur for a 4-2 lead with 9:19 to play.
