Not a bad turnaround from that obscene loss to the Senators on Friday, huh?
Evgeni Malkin popped three and had the hats rain down as the Pens went on to chase Ryan Miller out of net and beat the Sabres 8-3, the highest scoring game of the season for Pittsburgh up to this point.
While Malkin notched his seventh career hat trick, it was also a night of firsts. Jason Williams, called up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton in the wake of all these injuries, picked up his first as a Penguins early in the first when he helped put the Pens up 1-0. Roughly four minutes later, while on the power play, Simon Despres let one go from a nice angle to notch his first career NHL goal. Good to see for a guy who will likely become a mainstay on the blue line sometime over the next few seasons.
It's safe to say that Malkin has officially flipped the switch from "Finding Rhythm" to flat out "Beast Mode." He's currently riding a five-game point streak in which he's scored six goals and added six assists. His 36 points now have him closing in on the league's scoring leader Phil Kessel, who has 39 points.
Funny how things can go so wrong the other night against Ottawa and it feels as if there is so much more to say. Then you get a ridiculous win like this and it's hard to expand past the basis of "It was a good game, they played well and Malkin is a machine." That's not to say we focus only on the negative here, but I feel we'd rather let results speak for themselves.
Great game. Nice win. Pens are back at it Tuesday when they host Chicago.