Malkin scores twice, Penguins roll past Devils
NEWARK, N.J. — After a dreadful showing against bottom-feeding Calgary the day before, the Penguins needed a bounce-back performance Sunday in New Jersey. Before the game, coach Mike Sullivan said he was confident there were enough leaders in the Penguins locker room to make sure it happened.
Evgeni Malkin is one of those leaders.
He made sure it happened.
Malkin scored a first-period goal to give his team an early lead, then netted his second goal of the game to stop a Devils uprising in the second period, leading the Penguins to a 6-1 victory at Prudential Center.
“We're not happy how we played yesterday. We understand how big the game was tonight,” Malkin said. “It's a great job from everyone.”
Before Sunday, the building had been inhospitable to the Penguins in recent years. They were 1-7-0 in their previous eight trips to Newark, scoring a grand total of eight goals. They had never scored six goals in a game at the venue, which opened in 2007.
With the win, the Penguins moved past Detroit into the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference race. The Devils, who have been unlikely playoff contenders most of this season, fell seven points behind the Penguins.
“We believe in these guys,” Sullivan said. “I knew they were going to respond the right way.”
Malkin gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead on a first-period power-play goal.
Early in the advantage, he was dumped into the bench by Devils winger Kyle Palmieri. Moments later, he hammered a one-timer from the right faceoff circle past unsuspecting goalie Keith Kinkaid.
“I think the bench is a little bit lower here,” Malkin deadpanned. “It surprised me. I tried to save my body. But it's a good battle. I like it.”
Less than a minute later, Matt Cullen fired a shot over Kinkaid's shoulder to make it 2-0. Then, less than two minutes into the second period, Nick Bonino scored on the rebound of a Bryan Rust shot to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead.
It was the first goal since Nov. 7 for Bonino, who did not score in his previous 31 games and missed 19 others due to injury.
“It's good to break a streak like that,” Bonino said. “They're never fun.”
Given that the Devils, who aren't an offensively explosive bunch to begin with, were playing with a backup goalie while Cory Schneider is out with a sprained MCL, it looked like the Penguins would cruise.
It wasn't that simple.
About eight minutes into the second period, Palmieri took advantage of a Penguins turnover inside the offensive blue line and scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1.
About four minutes later, after high-sticking minors to Malkin and Olli Maatta 39 seconds apart, the Devils had a long five-on-three power play.
The Penguins killed the penalties, thanks in part to a sliding stop by rookie goalie Matt Murray on an Adam Henrique shot from the right faceoff circle about a minute in. Bonino, Maatta and Kris Letang were on the ice for the entire kill.
“I think it was the best moment in our game,” Malkin said.
Moments later, Malkin effectively put an end to New Jersey's comeback hopes. Devils defenseman Jon Merrill picked the wrong opponent to blow a tire in front of, and Malkin scooped up the loose puck and fired a shot past Kinkaid's glove to give the Penguins a 4-1 lead.
Rust and Scott Wilson tacked on goals in the third period.
“With the Devils, if you get a couple goals early, it opens them up a little bit,” Bonino said. “They're so structured defensively that when they need to press for goals, we were able to take advantage.”
Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.
