ANAHEIM (AP) – Evgeni Malkin scored twice and had an assist in his season debut, Jeff Carter added two goals and the rising Pittsburgh Penguins rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night.
Malkin had not played since he underwent surgery on his right knee in June. The four-time All-Star winner and 2012 Hart Trophy winner had been skating with teammates for several weeks and was a full participant in Monday’s training.
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It was Malkin’s 63rd multi-goal game of the regular season and the first since March 10, 2020. The 35-year-old Russian center had the career-low eight goals and 28 points in 33 games last season.
Malkin centered the second line between Carter and Kasperi Kapanen, who was responsible for all four Pittsburgh goals. The captain added two assists and Tristan Jarry stopped 25 shots for the Penguins, who returned after Saturday’s 3-2 loss in Dallas, which got a winning streak of 10 games.
Jakob Silfverberg scored Anaheim’s goal and Anthony Stolarz made 30 saves.
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Malkin scored his first goal on a powerplay of 3:27 in the second period to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 advantage. He ripped a 47-foot shot that went through Stolarz’s legs. Sidney Crosby, who screened Stolarz on the piece, had to jump and just avoided the puck deviating from his skate.
Malkin added another at 14:38 of the second as he redirected John Marino’s shot from Stolarz’s block. He then assisted on Carter’s empty net goal with two to four left.
Carter, who had his 65th multi-goal game, opened the scoring 65 seconds later as he exploited a turnover deep inside the Ducks zone and fired a slack shot that went in from the far post. Carter has 11 goals this season and three in his last four games.
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