Christopher Waiting scored his first goal since returning to play and added an assist, as the Penguins de Pittsburgh continued their winning streak with a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers.
The Penguins have now won seven in a row. But the celebrations turned sour following the goal ofEvgeni Malkin who made it 3-1 midway through the third period on the power play.
The mighty shot of Sidney Crosby appeared to hit Malkin’s right knee before entering the net and Malkin immediately collapsed to the ground in pain. He had to be escorted off the ice and retired to the locker room, unable to return to play followingwards. It was on this knee that he was operated on in 2011.
Trailing 1-0 following the goal of Ryan Lomberg in the first period, Letang tied the game for the Penguins in the second. The Quebec defender, who was playing his third game since his stroke on November 28, grabbed a nice pass from Bryan Rust before hitting the target short of a man.
Pittsburgh was also prolific on the power play with two wins. Besides that which has been credited to Malkin, Jake Guentzel earned the other by tying his 14th goal of the season with the help of Letang. Guentzel completed the double with 1:18 remaining.
With a pass on Lomberg’s goal, Eric Steel came within two units of the 600 plateau.
Sam Reinhart was the Panthers’ other scorer in the loss.
