With chants of “MVP” cascading down the Consol Energy Center, Evgeni Malkin fist bumped his teammates awaiting the final announcement of his 45th goal on the season.
After a quick review, the referee signaled to center ice, confirming that Malkin’s slapshot did cross the goal line. For Malkin, it was another step towards achieving a new personal best, for the Predators, it was the final nail in the coffin, and for the Penguins, it was the final step in clinching a playoff spot.
Evgeni Malkin scored twice, James Neal added four assists, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 of 30 shots as the Penguins dominated the Predators 5-1, Thursday night.
After pulling Pekka Rinne in his previous start against Edmonton -in which he allowed three goals on seven shots- Predators’ coach Barry Trotz gave Rinne the nod against Pittsburgh.
Rinne struggled again.
Just 1:23 into the game, Evgeni Malkin skated down the far wing and fired a slapshot that seemed to handcuff the Finnish goaltender. Rinne swatted at the puck but it deflected off the webbing of his glove and into the net. Less than three minutes later, Pascal Dupuis deflected Kris Letang’s shot from the point and the Penguins were off and running, 2-0.
Both sides remained quiet on the scoresheet until the second period started. Matt Cooke scored his 17th goal of the season two minutes into the second period. Francis Bouillon turned the puck over to James Neal in the defensive zone. Neal skated towards Rinne, uncontested, then dished a backdoor pass to Matt Cooke who slammed the puck past Rinne for the 3-0 Penguins lead.
Chris Kunitz added his 22nd goal five minutes later. After Neal was stood up on the attacking blue line, Kunitz took the puck and attempted to center a pass to Sidney Crosby who is now scoreless in 12 straight games. Instead of reaching Crosby for the easy tap-in, the puck bounced off of defenseman Shea Weber’s skate and into the goal to increase the lead to 4-0 Penguins.
The only thing to go right for Nashville was the goal by Alexander Radulov. Radulov was playing in his first NHL game since leaving the Predators to play in Russa for the KHL team, Salavat Yulaev Ufa in 2008. Radulov jammed in a loose puck in front of Marc-Andre Fleury to tally the Predators’ only goal of the night.
Evgeni Malkin, Radulov’s teammate in the 2010 Olympics, showed why he is the favorite for the Hart Trophy. Malkin skated down the far wing and fired a slapshot past Pekka Rinne to record his second goal of the game. The velocity on the shot made the puck go in and out of the net so fast that the referee initially waved off the goal. Video evidence showed the puck did cross the goal line, turning over the initial call and giving Malkin his 45th goal of the season and league-leading 95th point.
- The win secured the Penguins sixth straight trip the Stanley Cup playoffs.
- After setting a career high in points with four on tuesday, Neal set a career high in single-game assists with 4.
- Marc-Andre Fleury secured his 40th win of the season. It is only the second time (2007) he has reached 40 wins in a season.
- Sidney Crosby has not scored a goal since his first comeback on November 21st.
Photo courtesy of Yahoo!
Discussion about this post