NHL

Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals

· National Hockey League

Malkin scores to help the Penguins beat the Capitals in the 95th game between Crosby and Ovechkin

Noel Acciari scores an empty-netter to seal a Penguins win

While all eyes were on Crosby and Ovechkin, Malkin set up Erik Karlsson's goal 3:11 into the first and then scored the winner with 9:32 left. With 18 points, Malkin is the leading scorer for the Penguins, who won for the sixth time in 16 games this season after getting a goal from Michael Bunting assisted on by Karlsson and 32 saves from rookie Joel Blomqvist.

Noel Acciari, who swept the puck off the goal line to save a goal earlier, sealed it with an empty-netter with 22.9 seconds left.

Rasmus Sandin and Andrew Mangiapane scored for the Capitals, whose seven-game home winning streak came to an end. Charlie Lindgren made 28 saves, many of them spectacular, in a losing effort.

Takeaways Penguins: Karlsson responded to being called out by coach Mike Sullivan with two points in the first seven minutes. The three-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman might be past his prime at 34, but he can still flash some brilliance offensively.

Capitals: Things had been going so well they were due a little regression, which came with a couple misses with the net wide open.

Key moment At the end of Washington's third and final power play of the night, Blomqvist stopped two shots from Taylor Raddysh within two seconds.

Key stat The Capitals went 0 for 3 on the power play, failing to score in more than five minutes of time. They're 2 for their last 40 dating to Oct. 17.

Up next The Capitals visit St. Louis on Saturday, and the Penguins get the weekend off before hosting Dallas on Monday night.

Regular Season Series

PIT leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 3:11 Erik Karlsson Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Evgeni Malkin (13), Sidney Crosby (10)
Goal 1st Period 6:59 Michael Bunting Goal (2) Tip-In, assists: Erik Karlsson (8)
Goal 1st Period 8:22 Rasmus Sandin Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Connor McMichael (6), Tom Wilson (4)
Goal 2nd Period 6:04 Andrew Mangiapane Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Jakub Vrana (3), Hendrix Lapierre (2)
Goal 3rd Period 10:28 Evgeni Malkin Goal (5) Snap Shot, assists: Bryan Rust (2), Kris Letang (4)
Goal 3rd Period 19:37 Noel Acciari Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Marcus Pettersson (6)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/pit.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originPIT https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH
18 Blocked Shots 16
19 Hits 20
10 Takeaways 1
32 Shots 34
0 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
29 Faceoffs Won 30
49.2 Faceoff Win Percent 50.8
21 Giveaways 10
3 Total Penalties 2
6 Penalty Minutes 4

Game Information

Capital One Arena

Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 18,573 | Capacity:

2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
New Jersey 11 6 24 2
Carolina 11 4 22 0
Washington 10 4 21 1
NY Rangers 9 4 19 1
NY Islanders 6 6 16 4
Pittsburgh 6 9 15 3
Philadelphia 6 8 14 2
Columbus 5 8 12 2
Full Standings