A day after declaring a belief that the Penguins will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Evgeni Malkin scored his 10th NHL hat trick to fuel their 5-4 come-from-behind victory against the Canucks at Consol Energy Center.
Bryan Rust scored the go-ahead goal, his second of the season, to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead with 7:00 remaining, then Sidney Crosby scored into an empty net with 1:23 left for what turned out to be the game-winner. After Bo Horvat gave the Canucks a 3-1 lead with his ninth goal of the season 6:00 into the third period, Malkin scored two quick goals to tie the game.
Malkin fought his way behind the net, forcing goalie Ryan Miller to leave the crease, then sent the puck in front where Linden Vey tipped it into his own net. Malkin's second goal 7:16 into the third made it 3-2. He scored his third goal 3:06 later when he took a wrist shot past Miller's glove to tie the score. The hat trick was Malkin's first since April 28, 2014, in a series-deciding 4-3 Game 6 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference First Round and was his first regular-season hat trick since Feb. 25, 2012 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
With the Penguins trailing 2-0 after the first period for the second time in as many games, Malkin's first goal made it 2-1 six seconds after Alexandre Burrows was called for hooking, giving Pittsburgh a 5-on-3 for 1:08. Malkin one-timed a slap shot at the top of the right circle, with Crosby jumping out of the way, past Miller 3:54 into the second period. Malkin leads the Penguins with 23 goals and 47 points. He has nine goals and 20 points in his past 16 games.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said he was pleased with the ability to rally from down two goals for the second time in three days, but as he said after a 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, he'd rather not be in the position to have to come from behind. Jannik Hansen completed a hat trick of his own to pull the Canucks to within 5-4 with 16.8 seconds remaining.
It was the first time players from opposing teams scored a hat trick in the same game since March 8, 2015, when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers and Elias Lindholm of the Carolina Hurricanes did it in a 7-4 Hurricanes win.
Pittsburgh moved into a three-way tie with the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils for the Eastern Conference's two wild cards into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Bruins host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday and the Devils play at the Winnipeg Jets. The Penguins have earned a point in six of their past seven games and 10 of their past 12.
Vancouver, whose players partially walked to the arena after its bus was unable to drive up a hill because of inclement weather, has lost two of its past three games after winning three of its previous four.
Hansen opened the scoring at 27 seconds after Alexander Edler tipped the puck up the boards. Hansen carried it through the neutral zone and blew by Olli Maatta before sending a wrist shot past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's blocker.
With Daniel Sedin in the penalty box for hooking, Hansen passed over a sliding Kris Letang to Dorsett on a shorthanded 2-on-1. Dorsett's shot hit the crossbar before Hansen backhanded a shot past a scrambling Fleury for a 2-0 lead with 3:25 remaining in the first.
Chris Kunitz did not play because of a lower-body injury he sustained against the Flyers on Thursday. The Penguins, who had their Sunday game at the Washington Capitals postponed because of snow, play Tuesday at home against the Devils. Vancouver finished a stretch of six road games in 10 days 3-2-1.
Pens Quotes
Evgeni Malkin: "It's not every day [you score a hat trick], but it always feels good. Obviously, the team won. It was a very good day for me. I thank my linemates. They did a great job today. … [The second goal] was lucky. It was a lucky day today for me."Mike Sullivan: "We've talked a lot, since I've been here, about mindset and about being ready to play. For me, all of us as individuals have to take ownership for ourselves in preparing ourselves to be ready. That's the message, for me."
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