Penguins wallop Panthers behind big days from stars

Evgeni Malkin recorded his first hat trick in more than four years, Sidney Crosby climbed ahead of Steve Yzerman in the record books and a six-goal second period moved the Pittsburgh Penguins two points closer to a playoff spot as they walloped the visiting Florida Panthers 9-4 Saturday.

Malkin's big game, three goals and an assist, came on the night he became the 23rd player and fifth European to reach 1,400 career points. Erik Karlsson had a goal and three assists for his 11th career four-point game and first since April 1, 2023.

Elmer Soderblom, Anthony Mantha and Rickard Rakell each added a goal and an assist, and Noel Acciari and Ryan Shea also scored for the Penguins (39-22-16, 94 points). A dozen players registered at least a point for Pittsburgh, with Crosby's two assists giving him 1,756 career points, placing him one ahead of Yzerman for seventh on the NHL all-time points list.

Arturs Silovs stopped 19 shots for the Penguins.

A.J. Greer had a goal and an assist, while Seth Jones, Noah Gregor and Mackie Samoskevich also scored for the Panthers (37-36-3, 77 points).

Sergei Bobrovsky made 13 saves on the 19 shots he faced before exiting midway through the second period. Daniil Tarasov faced 12 shots and saved nine.

The Penguins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after Acciari scored on a putback 20 seconds into the game and Karlsson got his 14th goal of the season on a power play with 14:54 left in the first. However, Greer got one back for Florida two minutes later, and Jones tied the game with 5:29 left in the first.

From there, it was all Penguins, who scored six goals in a period for the first time since Dec. 12, 2024. Mantha's team-leading 31st came less than two minutes into the second. Malkin scored the next two before Soderblom chased Bobrovsky at 10:07.

Malkin finished the scoring for Pittsburgh with an unassisted goal 3:30 into the third to make it 9-2. It was his 14th career hat trick and first since March 27, 2022, against Detroit.

Florida gave up nine goals for the second time this season. Earlier in the day, the Panthers became the first Stanley Cup defending champion to miss the ensuing season's playoffs since the Los Angeles Kings in 2015.

--Field Level Media