The Pittsburgh Penguins may have been outshot and out possessed by the Panthers but they still were able to leave Florida with a 5-1 victory. Evgeni Malkin had 4 points last night and his incredible offensive run has him 1 point behind Sidney Crosby (36) for the league lead.
Here are the game highlights:
Here is the possession chart:
The Panthers played the kind of game that will leave them scratching their heads on why they were on the wrong end of a 5-1 score. Panthers possessed the puck, earned zone time, and fired rubber towards the net. Penguins rookie goaltender Jeff Zatkoff was up to the task making 39 saves in the Penguins victory. Zatkoff did a nice job of bouncing back from the last time he was in Miami. Zatkoff’s NHL debut was against the Panthers on October 11th and it was a debut not worth remembering. Zatkoff gave up 6 goals on 30 shots. Last night was much much better.
Lately Zatkoff has provided the Penguins with quality play from the backup position.
Zatkoff has stopped 91 of 94 shots in his last 3 starts, and he's won each of his last 4 decisions (1 in relief vs. Leafs).
— Pens Radio Network (@PensRadioNet) December 1, 2013The Penguins as a team have only given up 1 goal in the last 7 periods of play.
The real reason why the Penguins left Florida with a 5-1 victory is because of Evgeni Malkin. Geno Machino registered his first 4 point game since March 20th of 2012 when he registered 5 points against the Winnipeg Jets.
The last time it was this enjoyable watching somebody carve up Southern Florida it was season 4 of Dexter.
Evgeni Malkin is taking over and only James Neal has been allowed on the ride. Since James Neal has returned to the lineup Evgeni Malkin has flipped a switch. Malkin is playing at his Conn Smythe and Hart Trophy winning level.
In October Malkin had 3 goals and 10 points in 13 games. In the month of November Malkin has 4 goals and a whopping 25 points in 15 games. Malkin will more than likely be the NHL’s #1 star for the month of November.
Malkin’s 21 assists in November the most in one month since Gretzky had 21 in January, 1996!
— James Mà¬rtle (@mirtle) December 1, 2013Malkin’s partner in crime has also had a great month of November. James Neal only played in one game during October; it was the season opener in which he left early with injury. Since he has returned in November Neal has played in 12 games and has 8 goals and 16 points. The Penguins have won 6 of their last 8 games and the dynamic duo of James Neal and Evgeni Malkin are a huge reason why:
Of last 30 goals scored by Penguins, either Malkin or Neal (or both) have figured in on 22 of them. Wow.
— Pens Radio Network (@PensRadioNet) December 1, 2013The Penguins will have a few days off from game action and will return to competition on Tuesday night when they visit Long Island to take on the struggling New York Islanders.
Thanks for reading!