Player of the night: Evgeni Malkin
Evgeni Malkin helped get things started for the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, and then he finished the game off with the overtime winner to send the New York Rangers to a fourth consecutive loss.
Malkin scored once, added three assists and even dropped the gloves in a 5-4 overtime victory, as the Penguins came back with a late -- and crafty -- third period goal from Sidney Crosby.
Talk about the Penguins being opportunistic on the winner. Off a defensive zone faceoff win for the Rangers, Ryan McDonagh made a terrible giveaway right beside his own net, giving the puck to Phil Kessel, who slipped it over to Malkin for the quick one-timer.
Highlight of the night:
There were a few candidates for this tonight. Phil Kessel once again showed off that tremendous wrist shot. Thomas Vanek decided to blast a slap shot on a breakaway, going post and in against the Senators. Nikita Kucherov had a perfect shot against Cory Schneider after previously setting up teammate Vladislav Namestnikov for a pretty goal versus the Devils. Yes, there were a few options.
But, we’ll go back to Winnipeg for this one. Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson not only protects the puck from Jacob Trouba on the breakaway, but then dekes out Steve Mason with the move to the forehand.
Factoid of the night:
The Vegas Golden Knights won again, giving them a 5-1 record to begin their inaugural season. That puts them in elite company.
The @GoldenKnights became the 2nd franchise in NHL's 100-year history to begin their inaugural season 5-1-0 (also: MTL, 1917-18). #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/0yY1OTSAZB
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 18, 2017
Scores:
New Jersey 5, Tampa Bay 4 (SO)
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Cam Tucker is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @CamTucker_Sport.
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