*Photo from The Rink Live*
Good things are happening right now in Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby scored, Evgeni Malkin added a goal, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Chicago Blackhawks with a 5-3 victory on Sunday night in Chicago.
The Penguins have now taken home 3 wins in a row and have points in 7 of their last 10 games, now with a 9-7-3 record early on. Malkin had a big night by scoring in his 1,000th career NHL game, with Crosby tallying a goal and 3 assists to up his point total to 10 on the Penguins current road trip.
Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said of Crosby's hot streak that "Obviously, the numbers speak for itself. He was tremendous. He just has the ability to elevate his game at key times. A lot of times he's the difference. You saw what he did late in the game. That's what he's capable of."
Brock McGinn gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead when he scored 1:04 into the game. Malkin then registered his 8th goal of the season 2:27 into the second period to make it 2-0, followed by Rickard Rakell scoring 4:07 into the period. Jujhar Khaira and Patrick Kane then scored for the Blackhawks to cut the deficit to 3-2 after two periods.
At the 15:49 mark of the 3rd period, Philipp Kurashev scored for the Blackhawks, tying the game 3-3 on his 3rd goal of the season. 57 seconds later, Crosby scored to put the Penguins ahead 4-3 thanks to his 10th goal. With the net empty and 17 seconds to go, Jeff Carter sealed the win for the Penguins with assists from Crosby and Kris Letang.
Malkin said of scoring in game number 1,000 that it was "Great memories for me and my family. Emotional night. I hope I stay here all my life. Amazing team. Amazing organization. I hope this will be a special year for me. You don't play a game like this, maybe one or two in your life. Lots of emotion, lots of thinking. I was only thinking the whole game we needed to win."
Penguins backup Casey DeSmith got the start in goal, getting the win to improve his record this season to 3-4-1 in 8 starts so far. DeSmith stopped 29 of 32 shots he saw from the Blackhawks, which was good for a .906 save percentage.
The Blackhawks also started their backup goalie, with Arvid Soderblom getting the start. Soderblom saved 20 out of 24 shots from the Penguins, recording a subpar .833 save percentage as his record drops to 2-4-1 this season.
Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said after the game that "I don't think in the NHL you reward any kind of loss. There are positives, for sure, compared to last night. Last night was one of the first nights we didn't seem to have the energy to put up that fight all game, even though it may have looked aesthetically a little better in the third."
Up next, the Penguins return home for a Wednesday night showdown against the Calgary Flames, with Tristan Jarry in line to start. Petr Mrazek is the likely starter for the Blackhawks when they face the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.
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