Evgeni Malkin scored five points (two goals and three assists) as the Pens routed the Coyotes Monday night, 6-1. Sidney Crosby added a goal and two assists, running his points-scored streak to 21 straight games.
Kris Letang scored on a power play early in the first period, and then the Pens made it 2-0 as Malkin scored shortly before the frame was over. Malkin and Crosby both added power play goals at the beginning of the second period, and Matt Cooke scored an even-strength goal to make it 5-0, at which point the Coyotes replaced goalie Jason LaBarbera with Matt Climie. Wojtek Wolski scored the Coyotes’ only goal in the third period, and Chris Conner added the Pens’ final goal to make it 6-1.
The game was filled with penalties on both sides, but the Pens killed all the Coyotes’ power play opportunities, including a five-on-three in the second period.
The Penguins, after five days off, are trying to recover from a modest two-game losing streak against the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, which followed a 12-game winning streak. The Pens last played the Coyotes November 6, when they won 4-3 in a shootout.
The Coyotes are finishing a four-game tour of the Atlantic Division. In their last game, they beat the woeful New York Islanders in a shootout. Before that, they lost to the Rangers (in a shootout) and Devils. After this they'll stay on the road against the Stars and Sharks.
Sidney Crosby will try to extend his point-scoring streak to 21 games tonight, and he'll have a bit more than two periods left to pull it off.
