Malkin draws Pens closer

February 28, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Evgeni Malkin’s power play goal lifted the Pens over the Blackhawks 5-4 in overtime at The United Center earlier tonight.

The league’s leading scorer who had been quiet till that point scored with three seconds remaining on the Pens’ four-on-three taking advantage of a bad tripping penalty by rookie Kris Versteeg late in regulation.

Minus team captain Sidney Crosby (groin), the Pens twice led by two on the Blackhawks getting immediate contributions from latest acquisition Chris Kunitz, who scored his first as a Pen and setup another. But the home club rallied on the strength of 20 year-old captain Jonathan Toews’ first NHL hat trick.

After having the third waved off on a high stick, Toews made Cam Barker’s pass across count finishing his 25th for his third power play goal cutting the deficit to 4-3. Sponsored hard hats and hats flew onto the ice as Chicago cheerleaders cleaned it up.

The Pens who struggled mightily in the third allowing the Hawks to get the first 10 shots on their way to a 20-4 advantage couldn’t hang on with Rob Scuderi’s delay of game minor costing them.

Late in the man-advantage off a rush, Dave Bolland chipped a backhand off a Pen past Marc-Andre Fleury tying it with under five minutes left. Andrew Ladd and Martin Havlat assisted.

But with the Blackhawks continuing to press, Versteeg tripped Malkin in the offensive zone with the Russian helping it along. It looked like they’d kill it getting three clears but with the power play running down, Sergei Gonchar patiently waited for his teammate to get in position at the right circle and then fed across and watched Malkin bury the one-timer for his 28th winning it at 1:36 of overtime.

The big extra point moved the 10th place Pens up to 68, trailing eighth Buffalo and ninth Carolina by a point while moving with two of the Panthers and Rangers.

Notes: Barker assisted on all three Toews’ tallies recording his second three-point game of the season. … Jordan Staal finished with a goal and helper along with a plus-three rating. … Miroslav Satan tallied a goal and an assist but also took a needless offensive zone penalty which allowed the Hawks to stage their rally. … Fleury was tremendous in the final period despite allowing a pair turning aside 18 of 20 shots with many from in tight. He finished with 41 saves. … Rookie Annti Niemi made his NHL debut relieving an ineffective Cristobal Huet (4 GA on 22 shots) stopping five of six.

… The goal extended Malkin’s point streak to seven straight (4-5-9).  His 89 points (28-61-89) are nine points more than countryman Alex Ovechkin with Crosby’s 79 ranking third. Rounding out the top five are Pavel Datsyuk (25-50-75) and the Devils’ Zach Parise (36-37-73). … Pittsburgh (31-26-6, 68 Pts) is idle today before visiting Dallas tomorrow in the second of a challenging five-game road trip that includes stops at Tampa, Florida and Washington.

Schneider helps Habs win third straight: Mathieu Schneider’s power play blast helped the Canadiens leap past the Flyers 4-3 at Wachovia Center.

Following Scottie Upshall’s goalie interference which to the dismay of angry Flyer fans looked like a valid call as he bumped Jaroslav Halak following a stuff try, Schneider took an Alex Kovalev pass and wired one shortside past Antero Niittymaki’s glove for the OT winner at 3:21.

It was Schneider’s third since returning to the place where his career began helping lead the club to their 24th and last Stanley Cup 16 years ago. Saku Koivu added a secondary helper allowing the fifth seeded Canadiens to get some more breathing room moving up to 73 points three clear of Florida and the Rangers.

In his third game since the public two-game benching, Kovalev scored and setup two other goals extending to three straight games with a point. He’s responded by tallying seven points (2-5-7) helping lead the Habs to three wins in a row.

Schneider and Tomas Plekanec both had a goal and assist as the Canadiens improved to 33-22-7 getting within three of the fourth ranked Flyers, whose next game is up I-95 when they renew acquaintances with record chaser Martin Brodeur Sunday. The Devils will look to increase their lead today when they host the Panthers.