Pittsburgh 4 – Atlanta 2
The Pittsburgh Penguins moved a game above .500 (9-8-1), defeating the Atlanta Thrashers 4-2 on Saturday night.
The Penguins stars came to play as Evgeni Malkin recorded 6th career hat trick, and Sidney Crosby added a goal and two assists in the win.
Malkin (3G-1A) and Crosby (1G-2A) combined for 7 points and Marc Andre Fleury made 31 saves to earn his second straight win. Pittsburgh improved to 38-3-1 when Malkin and Crosby each score in a game.
Malkin has 4 goals and 3 assists in his last 4 games and his three goal effort was his 2nd career hat trick against the Atlanta Thrashers. Malkin has 28 points in his 17 career games against Atlanta.
Sidney Crosby’s three point game marks the first time in his career that he has recorded five straight multi-point games. Crosby has scored in five straight games and has 6 goals and 6 assists in his last five games.
Crosby continues to bring it every night and a bright spot for the Penguins moving forward is that Fleury and Malkin appear to be finding their games as the Penguins enter a three game home stretch starting Monday night against the New York Rangers.
Game Notes
*Kris Letang had an assist to take the overall lead in points for defenseman with 17.
*Pittsburgh was excellent on the penalty kill, going 5-for-5 on the PK.
*Craig Adams had a team high 4 hits
*Kris Letang led the Penguins with 24:23 of ice time.
*Mike Comrie, Ben Lovejoy and Eric Godard were healthy scratches.