Evgeni Malkin fuels Penguins past Flyers

Evgeni Malkin had one goal and one assist to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins past the host Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Monday.

Rickard Rakell, Erik Karlsson and Chad Ruhwedel each added one goal for the Penguins.

Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 36 saves.

Owen Tippett scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who allowed a season-high 39 shots on goal.

Flyers goaltender Carter Hart stopped 35 shots.

The Penguins took a 4-1 lead at 4:29 of the third when Malkin's left-handed shot eluded Hart to the far side of the net. Malkin registered his 15th goal of the season.

Pittsburgh tightened defensively and didn't allow the Flyers to generate much buzz in front of the goal over the next 10 minutes.

Flyers coach John Tortorella opted not to pull Hart for an extra skater, likely because Philadelphia trailed by three goals.

The Penguins quickly went ahead 1-0 at 45 seconds of the first period when Rakell tapped in a nifty pass from Malkin on the power play.

Pittsburgh took a 2-0 advantage at 7:37 when Karlsson fired a shot through traffic in front.

Philadelphia's Travis Konecny redirected a shot in front at 14:08, but the puck was deflected into the stands.

The Flyers stayed aggressive and closed within 2-1 when Tippett ripped a wrist shot into the net on the power play at 14:55.

The Penguins had five power plays in the opening period.

Sidney Crosby was open at the point and had a solid shot saved by Hart at 6:45 of the second period.

Soon after at 8:07, Ruhwedel scored a rare goal to increase the Penguins' lead to 3-1. It was Ruhwedel's first goal of the season.

—Field Level Media