Evgeni Malkin keeps rolling, lifts Penguins past Bruins

Even with five games over seven days, it might be a tad dramatic to suggest the Pittsburgh Penguins need to beware the Ides of March. But they certainly seem to have taken a few more precautions than Julius Caesar ever did for a challenging portion of the month.

“You’ve got to trust your offseason training. You’ve got to trust what you’ve done to this point with rest and nutrition and just trying to keep your body right,” forward Bryan Rust said. “And kind of lean on the strength and conditioning staff and the training staff to kind of help you get through stretches like this if you have little aches and pains or you’re sore or whatnot.”

Of course, it’s a little easier to deal with any physical strain — short of an ill-fated visit to the Theatre of Pompey — when you win. That’s what the Penguins did Monday as they defeated the Boston Bruins, 4-1, at PPG Paints Arena. The triumph extended a season-best winning streak to six games.

The Penguins’ sequence of success has coincided with a strong stretch by forward Evgeni Malkin. On Monday, he had a power-play goal and an assist, extending his scoring streak to eight games.

Over that span, Malkin has 12 points (four goals, eight assists). That marks a considerable improvement over his first 20 games of the season when he also had eight points (four goals, eight assists).

“He’s dominant,” said Penguins forward Sidney Crosby, no dullard himself. “That’s what sticks out the most is when he has the puck, it’s hard to take it from him. He’s seeing the ice really well. He’s shooting the puck. When he’s going like that, there’s not much you can do to stop him. He’s so big. Just the way he’s carrying the puck, you can tell he’s really confident.”

The Bruins took a lead 6 minutes, 47 seconds into regulation with a power-play score. Taking a pass at center point of the offensive zone, defenseman Matt Grzelcyk surveyed for a shooting lane then lifted wrister past an effective screen by forward Nick Ritchie that clunked off the right post, rattled off the left post and went into the cage. It was Grzelcyk’s first goal of the season.

Things were tied 1-1 at 16:51 of the first.

Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues chucked a knuckler on net to the far side. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak appeared to make the save initially but allowed the puck to bounce off his glove and trickle into the net for Rodrigues’ second goal.

The Penguins took a 2-1 lead less than two minutes later at the 18:34 mark. After Crosby gained the offensive zone at center point, he fed a pass to forward Jake Guentzel on the right point. Guentzel crisscrossed with Crosby and, from the high slot, fed a pass low in the right circle for Crosby, who cranked a bad-angle one-timer that found a narrow opening between Halak’s left leg and his glove on the near side and hit twine for Crosby’s 11th goal.

It became a 3-1 score at 11:40 of the second thanks to a power-play goal. Settling a puck at center point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang fed a pass to the left half-wall for Crosby.

Curling around in the left circle, Crosby slipped a seam pass above the opposite circle for Malkin, who glided in and lifted a wrister from the hashmarks past Halak’s glove on the near side for his eighth goal of the season and 1,100th career point.

An empty-net score by Guentzel — his 11th, tied for the team lead — at 19:44 of the third secured victory.

Goaltender Tristan Jarry made 42 saves on 43 shots to improve his record to 12-7-1.

As for Malkin, he just keeps improving.

“(Malkin) is a guy that I think relies so heavily on his confidence level and he puts a lot of pressure on himself to produce offensively for our team,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “When it doesn’t go the right way, I think he’s harder on himself than anyone.

“When a few of the pucks go in the net for him and he’s getting opportunities to score, you can see his confidence start to build and usually his game follows. He’s playing a strong game right now. Obviously, he’s a dominant player for us. He’s contributing offensively, he’s a threat when he’s going over the boards. You just notice him every time he’s on the ice. It just feels like the puck follows him around. That’s when you know he’s on this game.”