Evgeni Malkin produced two goals and an assist in his season debut and Jeff Carter added two scores as the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins earned a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
Kasperi Kapanen had two assists and Tristan Jarry made 25 saves for the Penguins, who earned the victory one game after their 10-game winning streak ended with a 3-2 road defeat to the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Malkin, who has been out since surgery in June to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee, found the net twice in the second period, scoring in a regular-season game for the first time since March 15 against the Boston Bruins.
Jakob Silfverberg had a goal for the Ducks to end a 30-game scoring drought. Goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 30 shots in place of John Gibson, who is in COVID-19 protocol.
The Penguins took a 1-0 lead 65 seconds into the game when Carter picked up a loose puck in the Ducks’ zone and scored on a quick spin and shot from the left faceoff circle.
Malkin’s first goal of the game came at 3:23 of the second period on a power play for a 2-0 lead. His blast from the high slot through traffic went under leaping teammate Sidney Crosby and past Stolarz on the glove side.
Silfverberg got the Ducks within 2-1 when he scored at 8:33 of the second period. Silfverberg flipped in a loose puck in front of the Penguins’ goal for his second of the season and first since Oct. 15.
Malkin made it 3-1 at 14:38 of the second when he redirected a wide shot by John Marino on goal for his first two-goal game since the finale of the 2019-20 season.
Carter scored his 11th of the season into an empty net with 2:57 to play.
Before the game, Pittsburgh put forwards Danton Heinen and Zach Aston-Reese in COVID-19 protocol after both tested positive.
–Field Level Media