The Penguins defeated the Calgary Flames last night at PPG Paints Arena for their fourth straight win. Tristian Jarry made 33 saves and got his 100th NHL win.
Two minutes and nine seconds into the game, defenseman Jan Rutta gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Rutta would score his third goal of the season in his 20th game for the Penguins after recording three goals in 76 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning last season. Nine minutes and 42 seconds into the first, forward Bryan Rust seemed to extend the lead for the Pens to make it 2-0, but after a coach’s challenge, the play was deemed to be offside and was overturned.
Forty-four seconds into the second period, forward Rickard Rakell was robbed by the glove of Flames goalie Dan Vladar, and the score was kept at 1-0. Eight minutes and 37 seconds into the second period, forward Dillon Dube deflected a shot from defenseman Chris Tanev past Jarry to tie the game at 1-1. It was his second goal in as many games. It was also defenseman Dennis Gilbert’s first point for the Flames in his sixth game. It was his first NHL point since the 2019-20 season when he played for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Four minutes and 38 seconds into the third period, forward Jeff Carter was denied by Vladar on a partial breakaway to keep the score at 1-1.
The Penguins had a power play in overtime after Flames forward Elias Lindholm got called for hooking, but the Pens didn’t score.
In the shootout, Rickard Rakell, captain Sidney Crosby, and forward Evgeni Malkin scored for the Pens. Malkin’s goal in the fourth round of the shootout was the game-winner and helped the Pens improve to 6-1-1 in their last eight games and improve their record to 10-7-3. After he scored, he tossed his stick into the extremely energetic crowd. Jarry would stop forwards Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund in overtime and allow goals from forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman Rasmus Andersson in the shootout.
Malkin had his seven-game point streak, in which he recorded three goals and eight points, snapped. Crosby also didn’t record a point after he recorded four goals and 11 points in his last four games. Vladar made 38 saves for the Flames, which is the most he has made in a game this season so far. It was Vladar’s first start since November 10th. He is now 0-3-1 in his last four games. The Flames, who are 9-7-3, are now 4-1-1 in their last six games.
Evgeni Malkin was honored pregame on his 1,000th game. Each played wore his jersey during the warmups, and he was given a commemorative silver hockey stick, and a mosaic portrait made up of 1,000 different pictures, one from each of his 1,000 games.
