Resurgent Evgeni Malkin leads Penguins over Blues with goal, assist

Evgeni Malkin might not be what he once was.

The days of winning individual trophies and scoring titles are decidedly a memory and not a forecast at this stage of his career.

But he’s still pretty darn good.

That was evident during a 4-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena. The triumph was accomplished in part thanks to a resurgent Malkin, who contributed a goal and an assist.

Having largely been a non-entity as a scoring threat from mid-November through mid-December, Malkin has generated seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past five games, including Saturday.

“We’ve pushed each other over the years,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby, the team’s other superstar center, said Thursday. “He’s a guy that’s always stepped up when he needs to. That’s just the competitive nature in him.

“He’s been amazing for a lot of years, and the stats show it.”

The wins and losses have shown a good picture for the Penguins in recent weeks as well. In their past eight games, they are 6-1-1. By comparison, they were 3-6-3 during the 12 games that preceded this surge.

Despite this success as of late, the Penguins remain entrenched in seventh place of the Metropolitan Division with a 17-13-4 mark and 38 points.

“We want to trend in the right way,” Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry said following the win. “Obviously, we need the points. Just playing a good solid team game and having actionables, I think that really helps. That helps our team play the right way and play the way that we want to and I think it’s been giving us success.”

Saturday’s success was kicked off by Penguins forward Drew O’Connor, who opened the scoring 15:32 into regulation with his fourth goal of the season via an impressive assist by Malkin.

Surging into the offensive zone on the left wing off a tip pass by linemate Reilly Smith, Malkin generated a two-on-one with O’Connor against Blues defenseman Marco Scandella. As Scandella slid down in the left circle to prevent a pass, Malkin lofted the puck to the slot where O’Connor leaned down on his left knee and swiped a one-timer by the glove of rookie goaltender Jake Hofer. Malkin and Smith had assists.

“(Smith) made a good play there on the wall to get it to (Malkin),” O’Connor said. “When (Malkin) gets in those situations, he’s really good with his patience and kind of just waiting for that lane to open up. He did a great job there and just put it (in a good place).

”He’s looking for a pass there so I try to be ready.”

The Blues tied the contest at 1:06 of the second period when forward Robert Thomas found his 15th goal during a power-play sequence.

Off some crisp movement of the puck around the perimeter of the offensive zone, Blues forward Jordan Kyrou accepted a pass above the right circle, surveyed his options and snapped a cross-ice pass to Thomas, stationed low in the left circle. Dropping to his right knee, Thomas chopped a one-timer that struck off the right hip of Jarry and banked into the cage. Kyrou and defenseman Torey Krug claimed assists.

That score was the first the Penguins’ penalty killers had allowed in four games.

Malkin scored his 13th goal on a power-play opportunity at 6:50 of the second frame.

From the left point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson fed a pass to forward Rickard Rakell, low on the left wing along the goal line. From there, Rakell one-touched the puck to the near circle for forward Jake Guentzel. Pulling back his stick to suggest a one-timer, Guentzel pulled it down and slipped a clever pass through the feet of Blues defenseman Colton Parayko and to the far side of the crease where Malkin re-directed the puck with his right skate into the cage. Guentzel and Rakell registered assists.

Guentzel lauded associate coach Todd Reirden — who oversees the power play and has faced scrutiny for its considerable shortcomings all season — for alerting players to the Blues’ techniques on the penalty kill.

“We knew they were going to kind of have three (defenders) high,” Guentzel said. “So, we’re going to try to take advantage of low plays when we can. (Rakell) made a good touch (pass) to me and I just tried to throw it back door to (Malkin). He made a nice play on that one.

“It was all on (Reirden) because he told us about that one.”

Reirden might have told those players something profane had the Blues been able to convert a gift of a turnover into a potential game-tying short-handed goal at 18:20 of the middle frame.

Late in a power-play sequence, Karlsson forced an ill-conceived backhand pass from the left point of the offensive zone that was deflected by the stick of former Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen and slid to the slot. As Crosby dove in vain to poke the puck away, Krug claimed possession and initiated a three-on-one rush into the Penguins zone. As Karlsson skated back to take away a possible pass to Kapanen, Krug gained entry on the left wing, approached from the left circle and lifted a wrister that was coolly rejected by Jarry’s left leg.

“It’s just trying to stay tall, trying to stay in the moment and just trying to make the most of it,” Jarry said. “You’re obviously there to bail the guys out. The guys always do a great job in front of me. So, it’s nice when I can help.”

The Penguins’ fourth line provided plenty of assistance when forward Jeff Carter scored his fourth goal at 4:48 of the third period.

Corralling a dump-in behind his cage, Hofer backhanded it around the boards to the left half-wall where it was intercepted by Penguins forward Jansen Harkins. Settling the puck, Harkins whipped it to the top of the crease where Carter shuffled a forehand redirection by Hofer’s right skate. Harkins had the lone assist, his first point of the season and as a member of the Penguins.

“After a while, you just want one to kind of drop,” Harkins said of his first recordable offense in 19 games this season. “Happy it worked out in the game, helped us win. So, feel like you work hard, eventually, it’s going to come.”

The Blues kept coming as Kapanen, the Penguins’ first-round pick in 2014, pulled his current employer within a single score with his fourth goal of 10:31 of the third frame.

As a power-play opportunity expired for the visitors, Blues rookie defenseman Scott Perunovich settled the puck at the right point of the offensive zone and lobbed a wrister toward the cage. Slipping past Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves, Kapanen found some space below the right hashmarks and deflected the puck through Jarry’s five hole. The only assist went to Perunovich.

This was Kapanen’s first game at PPG Paints Arena since he was jettisoned by the Penguins via waivers in February. He had spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins.

“A lot of good,” Kapanen said of his time with the Penguins. “Not all good, but a lot of good. Got to play with some tremendous players and made some lifelong friendships too. I learned a lot from so many guys here. I was lucky to be here for two and a half seasons. I really cherished it. There are some special guys over there.”

Any notion of a comeback was euthanized by one of those special guys when Crosby scored his 20th goal on an empty net at 18:29. Guentzel and Karlsson had assists.

Jarry made 25 saves on 27 shots and boosted his record to 11-11-2.

And while the Penguins have yet to substantially boost themselves in the standings, they certainly seem to have attained a badly needed course correction as of late.

Much of that has been steered by Malkin.

“He’s such a good player when he’s confident,” Rakell said. “Just creative with the puck. That’s when he’s playing at his best and that’s when he’s the best for us.

“It’s awesome.”

Notes:

• Carter leads the team with three game-winning goals this season.

• Karlsson recorded his 600th career assist on Crosby’s goal.

• Crosby’s goal was the 31st empty net goal of his career. The iconic Mario Lemieux holds the franchise record with 33.

• The Penguins recalled defenseman Ryan Shea from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League prior to the game. He was summoned to the NHL club as incumbent defenseman P.O Joseph was unavailable due to an undisclosed illness. Shea and forward Vinnie Hinostroza were the Penguins’ healthy scratches.

• With All-Star defenseman Justin Faulk scratched due to an undisclosed injury, the Blues recalled defenseman Matthew Kessel from Springfield of the AHL Saturday morning. Kessel made his season debut at the NHL level.