With All-Star defenseman Kris Letang missing a game for the first time this season, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Calgary Flames, 4-1, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, on Wednesday.

Letang is considered day-to-day due to an undisclosed injury, the team announced via social media.

With Letang scratched, the Penguins were deprived of each of their two All-Star defenseman as Erik Karlsson, a fellow right-hander, missed his fifth consecutive game due to an unspecified malady. Karlsson is currently designated to injured reserve.

Despite that considerable combined void, the Penguins won for the third time in four games (3-0-1), thanks largely to the efforts of their second line as forwards Egor Chinakhov, Evgeni Malkin and Tommy Novak all tallied a goal each.

“I feel like they could have had some more,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said regarding the trio to reporters in Calgary via audio provided by the team’s media relations department. “They were on.”

Goaltender Stuart Skinner, starting consecutive games for the first time since he joined the Penguins via a trade on Dec. 12, made 18 saves on 19 shots, boosting his record to 17-12-4.

Malkin opened the scoring with his 11th goal of the season 7:49 into regulation.

Accepting the puck at the right point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany offloaded it to defensive partner Ryan Shea near the center point. Taking a moment to survey his options, Shea lobbed a wrister toward the cage. Coasting through the hashmarks, Malkin redirected the puck with his stick off the ice, causing it to hop past goaltender Dustin Wolf, who was unable to recover into sound position after initially committing to the shot attempt by Shea. Assists went to Shea and St. Ivany.

The Penguins’ second line scored again when Chinakhov found his seventh goal at 12:32 of the second period.

Entering the offensive zone on the left wing, Malkin surged to the near half-wall and fed a pass to the top of the far circle for Novak, who one-touched the puck to above the upper hashmarks. Accepting the offering, Chinakov dragged the puck a bit to his left and sizzled a wrister to the far side past Wolf’s blocker. Novak and Malkin merited assists.

“Everyone of us wish kind of wish we had that shot,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said of Chinakhov’s goal. “It’s incredible.”

Flames forward Yegor Sharangovich got his team on the scoreboard with his 11th goal at 19:57 of the second frame.

Driving the puck deep on the right wing of the offensive zone, Flames defenseman Kevin Bahl spun away from Shea and dished a pass to the center point for defensive partner Zach Whitecloud. Taking the puck on his backhand, Whitecloud flipped to his forehand and lobbed a wrister that initially appeared to be going wide of the cage on the right side. Sharangovich was stationed just above the upper right hashmark and the puck appeared to strike off his right thigh, causing a course correction that led to it glancing off of Skinner’s right shoulder before entering the cage. Whitecloud and Bahl had assists.

Rust’s 18th goal restored a two-score lead only 50 seconds into the third period.

Digging the puck out of a sluggish battle in Calgary’s left corner, Rust swooped behind the cage and attempted a backhanded wraparound shot, which was denied by Wolf’s stick. The ensuing rebound fluttered loose in the crease as Penguins forward Sidney Crosby jabbed at it a handful of times. Through that chaos, the puck eventually slid behind Wolf. Rust was credited with the goal off assists from Crosby and linemate Rickard Rakell.

Novak got in on the act with his ninth goal at 9:19 of the final frame.

After Skinner used his glove to swat down a wrister from the slot by Flames rookie defenseman Hunter Brzustewicz, St. Ivany took control of the ensuing rebound and banked it off the left boards, creating an outlet pass for Novak. Cruising through the neutral zone, Novak gained the offensive blue line on the right wing, generating something of a two-on-one rush with Chinakhov against Flames defenseman Joel Hanley. With Hanley largely defending the pass, Novak attacked the cage with little resistance and lifted a clever backhander by Wolf’s glove on the near side. The only assist was secured by St. Ivany.

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Notes:

• With Letang sidelined, only six members of the Penguins have played in all 49 of the team’s games this season:

Forwards – Crosby, Connor Dewar, Anthony Mantha, Novak

Defensemen – Shea, Parker Wotherspoon

• In Letang’s absence, Rust served as an alternate captain.

• Penguins forward Kevin Hayes and rookie defenseman Ilya Solovyov were healthy scratches. Solovyov was acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.

• Flames All-Star forward Jonathan Huberdeau was scratched due to an undisclosed injury, according to a social media posting by the team.

• Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar appeared in his 600th career game.