NHL - Minnesota Wild @ Pittsburgh Penguins 3-4 - Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Evgeni Malkin spoke up Saturday and delivered Tuesday to help the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 at Consol Energy Center. Malkin said the Penguins had to "stop and look in the mirror" following a 4-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday that resulted in a closed-door meeting. In Pittsburgh's first game since that meeting, Malkin had a hand in all of Pittsburgh's goals (two goals, two assists).
Pittsburgh was 2-for-6 on the power play after failing to score on 13 opportunities in their previous three games. Minnesota failed to earn a point for the second time in nine games. It has allowed at least one power-play goal in each of its past three games.
Between the two Malkin goals, the Penguins lost defenseman Olli Maatta to an apparent injury after Nino Niederreiter checked him into the boards near the Minnesota bench with its door open and 9:51 remaining in the second. Maatta remained on the ice while being treated by trainers before he was helped down the runway. Penguins coach Mike Johnston did not offer an update on Maatta's status. Niederreiter said there was no ill intent on the play.
Pittsburgh defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday and lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 Friday.

Goals

* Malkin's impressive game began 1:12 into the first period, when he sent a wrist shot into the Minnesota crease with David Perron battling in front. Perron corralled the rebound, dragged the puck around Dubnyk's left pad and curled a shot inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
* The Wild answered when Jason Pominville fed Granlund between Malkin and Perron. Granlund one-timed a snap shot past Marc-Andre Fleury's blocker for a 1-1 tie with 7:03 remaining in the first.* After recording one shot on their first power play, the Penguins improved on their second. A few early scoring chances sent Dubnyk scrambling in his crease, and Beau Bennett capitalized by one-timing a pass from Malkin past Dubnyk's glove for a 2-1 lead with 2:49 left in the first.
* With the Penguins holding a one-goal lead midway through the second period, Malkin one-timed a feed from defenseman Kris Letang past Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk to put Pittsburgh up 3-1 at 8:15; it was his 100th NHL power-play goal.
* Malkin scored again with 8:49 remaining in the second to increase the lead to 4-1. He received a pass from Phil Kessel before slipping the puck between his legs to deke around Mikael Granlund and taking a wrist shot under Dubnyk's blocker.
* Jared Spurgeon's power-play goal cut the Penguins' lead to 4-2 with 3:37 remaining in the second period.
* Mikko Koivu scored during a 5-on-3 to make it 4-3 2:24 into the third period.

Pens Quotes

Evgeni Malkin: "We talked yesterday and I think we changed the momentum tonight and showed how we can play. We're still not perfect, but it's a little bit better, and I hope that now we're starting to understand what's going on with the team and support each other, and start winning."
Mike Johnston: "I think everybody to a man took [the loss to New Jersey] personally. Coaching staff, players, we just weren't good enough in [New] Jersey, and that type of battle, that type of effort as the game went along, you can't relax in any game. It doesn't matter what's happening. You have to have that battle. That's what we were most disappointed with as a group. I like the way the group dealt with it. I like the way they responded. It shows great character in the room. Yeah, we had a good game against Montreal, but we didn't have good games against Columbus and [New] Jersey. They dealt with it right away."

Wild Quotes

Mike Yeo: "We came in saying we know we can't take six penalties in the game. We've been taking too many penalties. Sometimes it's because we're chasing, whether it's the puck or the game. We have to do a better job of staying out of the box. We're missing some players to our game. We're missing some penalty killers as well, and I think we're feeling that."
Nino Niederreiter: "It's unfortunate, the whole situation; I pushed him then I went for a change. I think he toe-picked at the same time and the door was open, and he obviously fell into the boards. That's what happened. You never want to see anything like that. I feel bad, but it's unfortunate."
Ryan Suter: "They came out hard. We knew they were going to. They were all over us that first period. Then, we gave up a couple power-play goals. Then, we finally started to settle in, I thought. The third period, I thought we played well, but a little too late."