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Malkin's OT tally pushes Penguins past Blackhawks

Feb 28, 2009 - 5:56 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- In a game that saw a little bit of everything, the NHL's leading scorer found the net at just the right time for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Evgeni Malkin scored on the power play 96 seconds into overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a wild 5-4 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.

Kris Versteeg took a tripping penalty with 22 seconds left in regulation to set the stage for Malkin. After blasting a shot wide of the net, the All-Star one-timed a feed from defenseman Sergei Gonchar past Antti Niemi for his 28th goal of the season.

"If we didn't get the result we did, it would have been really disappointing after we had two two-goal leads," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "There is a lot to dissect after this one, but bottom line is we got two points."

Jordan Staal and newcomer Chris Kunitz recorded a goal and an assist and Miroslav Satan and Maxime Talbot also tallied for Pittsburgh, which won despite missing captain Sidney Crosby for a second straight game because of a groin injury.

Jonathan Toews recorded his first career hat trick with three power-play tallies and set a career-high with 25 goals on the season for the Blackhawks, who have lost three straight.

"Johnny had a special night tonight," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "He has gotten better every game this year. We love the trend on how he has taken charge, the puck was follwing him around tonight."

Pittsburgh took a 4-2 lead into the final period, a session that saw Chicago hold a 20-4 advantage in shots on goal. After having an earlier goal called off for a high stick, Toews scored 1:55 into the third to cut the deficit in half and complete the hat trick.

The goal sparked fans, for the second time on the night, to litter the ice with red construction helmets, which were handed out to the first 10,000 fans as part of a promotions giveaway.

"At first I didn't know what was going on," Toews said. "But I did get smoked with one going by our bench, that was cool. Second time at least (the) things didn't go to waste."

Dave Bolland knotted the score at 4-4 late in the third for Chicago, which came back from a pair of two-goal deficits to salvage a point.

A key stretch of the contest occurred in the second when Toews had apparently put Chicago ahead for the first time, 3-2, when he tipped a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury with 4:21 left in the second, sending the first round of construction helmets onto the ice.

But the replay showed Toews made contact with the puck above the crossbar, wiping out the goal.

"At first I wasn't sure, then I saw the replay and I knew it was a good goal," Toews said. "So it was very disapointing to have it taken away."

Pittsburgh would take advantage as Satan and Talbot scored 37 seconds apart before the end of the period to give Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the third and chase Cristobal Huet from the game.

Huet gave up four goals on 22 shots in 40 minutes of action while Niemi came on to stop five shots in the third period and overtime.

"I thought we played well most of the night, but it's disappointing not to get two points," Quenneville said. "Especially with how we controlled the play in the third period and generated a lot of scoring opportunites. We did everything tonight but win the game."

Staal and Kunitz scored first-period goals to stake the Penguins to a 2-0 lead. Kunitz saw his first action with Pittsburgh since being acquired - along with fellow left wing Eric Tangradi - from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Ryan Whitney on Thursday.

Fleury made 41 saves for the Penguins, who opened a five-game road swing in winning fashion.

"It was a game where the guys worked hard and we earned the two points," Fleury said. "We need them trying to get back into the race. Chicago is a good team so this is a good win."