Penguins Streit-en Up, Beat Bolts

Call me a “Nervous Nellie.” But when Tampa Bay rookie Adam Erne cruised down the slot unmolested and hammered the puck past Penguins goalie Matt Murray to break a scoreless tie early in the second period last night, I looked to the heavens and thought, here we go again.

After all, our guys haven’t exactly been lighting it up lately.

Thank goodness for Evgeni Malkin. Like a one-man cavalry charge in an old western, No. 71 arrived in a nick of time to save the day. And earn two points for our Pens.

Commemorating his 700th NHL game in grand style, “Geno” struck for two goals and a helper in a virtuoso performance worthy of a Russian master. One where he literally picked the team up and placed it on his broad back.

A mere two minutes and change after Erne’s tally, Malkin galloped across the plains (and down the right side undetected) to one-time Phil Kessel’s beautiful saucer pass past Peter Budaj. In the process, knotting the score and ending a prolonged drought against the plucky Czech goalie.

As teammates gathered ‘round to celebrate, Malkin flashed a broad, confident smile. He patted each on the helmet as if to say, “Relax, boys, I’ve got this.”

And so he did. Nine minutes later the former MVP ripped another pretty feed from Kessel—again from one knee—past the suddenly solvable Budaj to give the locals a 2-1 edge.

Following Geno’s lead, the Penguins began buzzing like the bees around announcer Mike Lange’s hive. Shrugging off a power-play roof job by Nikita Kucherov early in the third period, they retook the lead.

Displaying supreme skill in tight quarters, Malkin outworked two opponents in the right circle and chipped the puck to Sidney Crosby, who spied newcomer Mark Streit drifting through the back door. The veteran defender—wearing No. 32 in the black and gold—coolly settled Sid’s perfect cross-ice pass and surveyed the scene before beating Budaj through the five hole.

“You can see his hockey sense,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a real smart player. He’s very positionally sound. You can tell he’s played a lot of years in the league. … I think he’s going to bring a lot to our team.”

Fellow d-man Justin Schultz supplied the icing on the cake with a power-play goal at 16:37, courtesy of a terrific Crosby feed from the corner. Followed in short order by Tom Kuhnhackl’s empty-netter to make the count 5-2.

“When you score, you always like it,” said Malkin, the game’s No. 1 star. “It was a good night for me. It was a good night for the team.”

The big center was quick to share the credit.

“I’ve scored like 28 goals,” he said, “but probably on like 20 (Kessel) has passed to me. He’s a great player and I’m glad he plays with us.”

Ice Chips

Streit notched a goal and an assist in his Penguins debut to earn the second star. His five-on-five shot differential was plus-7, tops among the defensemen.

Fellow newcomer Ron Hainsey logged 25:07 of ice time and blocked a game-high five shots. He finished a plus-2. Schultz, the No. 3 star, tallied a goal and an assist. Murray made 27 saves.

The Pens finished with 35 shots on goal, six more than the Lightning. They won 59 percent of the faceoffs. Nick Bonino led the way, winning 12 of 18 draws, followed by Crosby (11 of 18) and Malkin (7 of 13).

Conor Sheary returned to the lineup after missing 13 games. The sparkplug winger skated 16 shifts (13:38 of ice time) and registered two hits.

Kris Letang missed his fourth-straight game with an unspecified upper-body injury. His status is day to day. Derrick Pouliot and Carter Rowney were healthy scratches.