Crosby, Malkin help Penguins hold off Senators for third straight win

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored in the same game for the first time in more than 10 months, and the Pittsburgh Penguins held on for a 6-4 win against the Ottawa Senators at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

Crosby and Malkin last scored together in a 4-1 win against the Boston Bruins on March 15, 2021. Malkin, who returned Jan. 11 from offseason knee surgery, played his first home game this season.
Mike Matheson had two goals and an assist, and Tristan Jarry made 39 saves for the Penguins (24-10-5), who have won three straight and are 14-2-0 in their past 16 games.
"I don't think we had our best game all night," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "It was just one of those games where we just lacked the attention to detail that our team is normally accustomed to playing with."
Josh Norris scored two of three goals in the first 8:02 of the third period for the Senators (11-20-2), who entered the period trailing 5-1. Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves in relief after Anton Forsberg allowed two goals on seven shots in the first 14:31.
"I think we know we shouldn't be down by four at that point," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "I think we did a lot of good things. … It's one of those games. We've won plenty of games this year where we didn't play like that."

After Dominik Simon put the Penguins ahead 1-0 at 4:28, Drake Batherson tied it 1-1 on a backhand at 10:12 of the first for his third goal in four games.
Malkin collected a rebound before chipping a shot over Forsberg's pad, giving the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 11:40 of the first. He has three goals in five games.
Pittsburgh seemed to take a two-goal lead on a power-play shot from Malkin at 14:31 of the first, but it was overturned after Ottawa challenged for offside. Gustavsson replaced Forsberg following the challenge.
Matheson made it 3-1 with a backhand at 15:59 of the first.
Ottawa outshot Pittsburgh 22-12 through one period.
"Those first two periods, we were playing the way we want to play," Senators forward Brady Tkachuk said. "Of course, the score didn't show it. … Nobody likes losing in that locker room. So it stings a little bit.
Crosby sent a backhand off the right post and in on a power play, extending it to 4-1 at 11:32 of the second period.

Matheson scored on a snap shot to push the lead to 5-1 at 18:41 of the second.
"Kind of all through this game, we were a little sloppy," Matheson said. "It's a tough way to play. Teams are really good on the transition now."
Tim Stutzle cut it to 5-2 with a wrist shot at 1:45 of the third period before a shot from Batherson went in off Norris' skate to make it 5-3 at 3:33.
Alex Formenton was awarded a penalty shot after Evan Rodrigues was called for holding at 7:27, but Jarry made a pad save.
Norris tapped in a pass from Erik Brannstrom, cutting it to 5-4 at 8:02.
"Going into the third, we knew the score was 5-1 but it really didn't feel that way," Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot said. "We played great the whole game. I think that's what we tried to do in the third. We tried to go back and stick with what we were doing. I think we have to take some pride out of that."
Jake Guentzel scored into an empty net for the 6-4 final with 47 seconds remaining.
"Not ideal," Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. "I think there were large portions of that game where we didn't play the way that we should be playing and the way we had been playing in the past. We've got to look at that and clean that up."
NOTES: Senators goalie Matt Murray, who won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017, did not play because of an illness unrelated to COVID-19. Murray has not faced his former team since being traded to Ottawa on Oct. 7, 2020. He was in the press box and received a tribute video during the first period. … Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang had the secondary assist on Crosby's goal to extend his NHL career-long point streak to nine games. He has scored 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) during that stretch. … Penguins forward Jason Zucker and goalie Louis Domingue were placed on injured reserve with undisclosed injuries Thursday. Zucker scored twice in a 5-3 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, his return from missing seven games with a lower-body injury. ... Ottawa forward Nicholas Paul had three shots on goal in 13:57 of ice time during his 200th NHL game.