Penguins' Malkin grounds Jets with 5 points
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Kris Letang celebrates after scoring Saturday -- a recurring theme in the Penguins' 8-5 rout of Winnipeg at Consol Energy Center.
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Evgeni Malkin was playing his 400th game in the NHL.
It was as good a time as any, he seemed to figure, for a career retrospective.
To offer up five-plus seasons of excellence in microcosm.
So Malkin set about scoring one goal and setting up four others Saturday in what became an 8-5 Penguins victory against Winnipeg at Consol Energy Center.
- Matchup: Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:08 p.m. today, Consol Energy Center.
- TV, radio: Root Sports, WXDX-FM (105.9).
- Probable goaltenders: Brent Johnson for Penguins. Dwayne Roloson for Lightning.
- Penguins: Are 1-1 vs. Tampa Bay, both on road. ... Are 5 for 12 on power play over past four games. ... Evgeni Malkin has seven-game goal streak at home, one shy of his career best.
- Lightning: Had points in seven of previous eight games before playing Saturday in Buffalo. ... Is 2-3 in second half of back-to-back games. ... Martin St. Louis had 17 points in 11 games before the Buffalo game.
- Hidden stat: Penguins are 5-0-1 at home vs. Southeast Division teams.
All of which gave Malkin his third five-point game this season, in addition to running his team-high goals total to 30 and his league-leading points total to 67.
Which should have made for a pretty satisfying afternoon for him.
And it did.
On some levels, anyway.
But Malkin could not overlook how the Jets had scored five times -- including the first two goals of the game -- which is something the Penguins can't allow opponents to do very often if they are intent on getting into the playoffs, let alone hanging around in them for a while.
"We need to play better defense," Malkin said, "because five goals is too [many]."
And he hardly was the only one to bemoan the porous defense.
"We realize we didn't play a great game," Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said.
Letang's team got away with it because its offensive output exceeded that of the previous four games combined (six) and matched its biggest outburst of the season (in an 8-3 victory against Buffalo Dec. 17).
And it did not look all that difficult, because, for much of the game, the defensive efforts of both clubs looked a lot like five guys trying to hold back the ocean with tennis racquets.
"Both coaches will take the VCR tape and burn it," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.
In the case of Winnipeg's Claude Noel, he likely could have done it with the fire he was breathing after the game.
"Quite frankly, I find it disrespectful," he said. "The players being disrespectful to each other, the goaltending, everything.
First Published February 12, 2012 12:00 am
