Malkin scores 400th NHL goal in Penguins win against Flames

CALGARY -- Evgeni Malkin scored his 400th NHL goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in their third straight win, 4-1 against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

Bryan Rust, who was a game-time decision because of illness, scored for the Penguins (20-10-4), who have won six of their past seven games (6-1-0). Tristan Jarry made 33 saves.
"We work hard," Malkin said. "We understand it's a tough league. Young guys have taken moments and enjoyed being here, and they understand a couple guys had injuries, and they take the chance. We're not scoring five goals every game, but we'll win 2-1, 3-2. It's huge for us."
WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Flames highlights]
Johnny Gaudreau scored, and Cam Talbot made 29 saves for the Flames (18-14-4), who have lost two in a row after a season-high seven-game winning streak.
"Tonight was frustrating," Calgary forward Sean Monahan said. "It was a game where we've got to come out there and we've got to win. We don't want to lose two games in a row. Good hockey teams don't do that."
John Marino tied the game 1-1 at 12:13 of the second period, and Rust scored to put the Penguins up 2-1 at 13:35 when he circled out from behind the net and beat Talbot.
"In the second, they capitalized right at the end of that first power play," Talbot said. "Very next shift, they used that momentum and buried us in our zone. Sometimes, that's when you need a save there, and that one just goes right through me, kind of six-hole. I just couldn't squeeze it."

Jarry made a left-pad save on Milan Lucic's shot on a 2-on-0 with Dillon Dube at 17:45.
"Just to play the shot, wait as long as I can," Jarry said. "I've had, I think, two in the last three games. I think every one I've played differently at this point. I was just making sure I was playing the shot and getting over there as quick as I can when he passed it."
Jarry made consecutive saves on Andrew Mangiapane and Matthew Tkachuk 7:07 into the third, and Malkin, who missed the past two games because of illness, reached the milestone with an empty-net goal to put Pittsburgh ahead 3-1 with 1:58 remaining.
Malkin joined Mario Lemieux (690), Sidney Crosby (451), and Jaromir Jagr (439) as the only players in Penguins history to score 400 goals.
"Those are special names," Malkin said. "They're legends, for sure. I want to be top too. I want to play my top-level game. It's a good number, but I want more, for sure. I feel it right now. I work hard every day, and I hope I play five, six more years here with the Penguins, and we'll see what's going on after. To be with Jagr, Lemieux, Crosby is amazing."
Kris Letang scored into an empty net from behind the Penguins goal line to make it 4-1 with 1:38 left.

Gaudreau put the Flames up 1-0 at 16:05 of the first period when he finished a three-way passing play with Tobias Rieder and Mikael Backlund.
The goal came on Calgary's 16th shot on goal, after Jarry made the save against Monahan off a setup by Lucic at 7:04, a pad save on Dube's partial breakaway at 7:52 and a glove save on Backlund from the high slot at 13:19.

They said it

"I think just coming back in the room and resetting was a big thing for us. (Coach) Mike [Sullivan] came in and told us to calm down a little bit and play our game. We went back out in the second (period), I think we played a more structured game, got pucks deep, and hounded them a lot more." -- Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry
"I thought we had a really good first period. The second kind of slipped away from us. A couple penalties, a couple turnovers. [Goalie Cam Talbot] bailed us out a couple times. Had a good push back in the third, couldn't find the net a couple times. They found a way to get an empty-netter." -- Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau

Need to know

Malkin is the seventh Russia-born player to score 400 NHL goals. … Pittsburgh is 13-3-1 against Western Conference teams. … Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz left the game after his first shift because of a lower-body injury. … Rust has seven points (four goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak. … Gaudreau has scored five goals in the past seven games after a 10-game drought. … Flames forward Sam Bennett had two shots on goal in 8:58 in his return after missing 13 games because of an upper-body injury.

What's next

Penguins: At the Edmonton Oilers on Friday (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Flames: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)