WASHINGTON — Evgeni Malkin scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Friday night in the 95th NHL game between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.
While all eyes were on Crosby and Ovechkin, Malkin set up Erik Karlsson’s goal 3:11 into the first and then scored the winner with 9:32 left. With 18 points, Malkin is the leading scorer for the Penguins, who won for the sixth time in 16 games this season after getting a goal from Michael Bunting assisted on by Karlsson and 32 saves from rookie Joel Blomqvist.
Noel Acciari, who swept the puck off the goal line to save a goal earlier, sealed it with an empty-netter with 22.9 seconds left.
Rasmus Sandin and Andrew Mangiapane scored for the Capitals, whose seven-game home winning streak came to an end. Charlie Lindgren made 28 saves, many of them spectacular, in a losing effort.
Takeaways
Penguins: Karlsson responded to being called out by coach Mike Sullivan with two points in the first seven minutes. The three-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman might be past his prime at 34, but he can still flash some brilliance offensively.
Capitals: Things had been going so well they were due a little regression, which came with a couple misses with the net wide open.
Key moment
At the end of Washington’s third and final power play of the night, Blomqvist stopped two shots from Taylor Raddysh within two seconds.
Key stat
The Capitals went 0 for 3 on the power play, failing to score in more than five minutes of time. They’re 2 for their last 40 dating to Oct. 17.
Up next
The Capitals visit St. Louis on Saturday, and the Penguins get the weekend off before hosting Dallas on Monday night.
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