Penguins News Roundup 3/12/18: Fleury 400, Malkin 3rd Star

12:15 p.m.: Evgeni Malkin has been named the NHL’s third star of the week. We’ve lost count how many “stars” Malkin has earned in the past two months.

Patrick Laine was the number one star. Bard Marchand, the little ball of hate, was the second star. Laine had five goals last week, including the hat trick against the New York Rangers. Marchand had eight points (4g, 4a) in three games.

Malkin “only” had eight points (3g, 5a), also. When will PPG begin chanting MVP?

BREAKING: Evgeni Malkin (@emalkin71geno) was named the @NHL “Third Star” of the Week. Geni tied for the NHL lead last week w/ eight points (3G-5A) in four games. His assist total was tied for 2nd-most & his three tallies tied for third-most. #Pens pic.twitter.com/UHEjZRzyg6

— Chase Williams WPXI (@chasepwilliams) March 12, 2018

Don’t look now–the Nashville Predators are peaking. So writes Travis Yost for TSN. I wonder if they would leave more garbage on Kingerski’s seat if there is a rematch? I wonder if Dan would antagonize them further? Wait, I think we know the answer to both.

Yost goes inside the numbers and it’s a scary look at how good Nashville has been.

Here is Yost’s piece on TSN:

Sportsnet’s Mike Johnston (no, not that Mike Johnston) reports the NHL wants players and coaches to stop complaining about goalie interference. Read the story here

Huh…maybe the NHL should try to fix it then?

7:00 a.m.: Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will go for career win 400 tonight in Philadelphia. Fleury (24-9-3) has won three of his last four starts and allowed just six goals over that time. The Golden Knights set a record for road-victories by an expansion team.

The Philadelphia Flyers lead the New Jersey Devils by three points for third place in the Metro Division and the Flyers trail the Pittsburgh Penguins by three points for first place.

The Flyers are 1-4-1 in their last six games.

–The Penguins dominated the Starts, Sunday night. It was a “rebound victory” for the Penguins who played a vanilla game Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Matt Gajtka has the recap and analysis from PPG. Join PHN for exclusive analysis and features from PPG, too! Here is our Members Page

#MalkinWatch

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist Sunday. He now trails Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov by just one point in the Art Ross trophy race.

Malkin’s empty net goal was Malkin’s 39th goal this season, one behind league leader and fellow Russian Alexander Ovechkin. Winnipeg’s Patrick Laine is also tied for the league lead with 40 goals.

Malkin’s standout performance on NBCsn brought a heap of positive attention and discussion of Hart trophy votes. It also seems the national conversation has centered on the very theme of finally giving Malkin proper recognition. PHN was first and drove that conversation. Read History, Legacy Calling Malkin here

Matt Murray

Penguins goalie Matt Murray skated Sunday morning and again took shots in a controlled environment (read: No Olli Maatta slapshots).

Murray remains out of the lineup with a concussion. His seventh injury since entering the NHL. 

#LightningWatch

The Tampa Bay Lightning won their fifth straight Saturday to become the first team to 100 points, this season. The Bolts beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in a shootout.

The top three teams in the Atlantic Division, Tampa Bay (100), Boston (94), Toronto (87) have more points than the Penguins.