Forward Evgeni Malkin rejoined the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup after serving a five-game suspension and directed his club to a 7-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at the Ball Arena in Denver on Monday.

Much of the heavy lifting was performed by Malkin, who had three points — including the winning goal — after opening the contest on the right wing of the second line.

“He was happy to be back,” Penguins forward Anthony Mantha said in reference to Malkin while speaking with reporters in Denver via audio provided by the Penguins’ media relations department. “Obviously, he made a big impact.”

Malkin was suspended by the NHL after he slashed Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in the head March 5.

“Bad memory for me,” Malkin said. “But look forward.”

In addition to matching their largest margin of victory this season, Monday’s result was one of the most impressive triumphs of the 2025-26 campaign for the Penguins, if only because of the quality of the opponent. The Avalanche are the league’s top team, at least by record (44-13-9, 97 points).

Also coming back to the Penguins’ lineup was forward Justin Brazeau, who missed the previous four games due to an undisclosed injury the team once labeled as “week to week.” Brazeau began the contest on the right wing of the third line and was held without a point on one shot.

The returns of Malkin and Brazeau were offset, a bit, by the absence of forward Blake Lizotte, who was scratched due to an undisclosed injury, the team announced.

Rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 25 of 27 shots as his record improved to 15-9-8.

Malkin opened the scoring 3:01 into regulation with his 14th goal of the season.

After escaping the penalty box following a tripping infraction, Malkin accepted a short-area pass in the defensive zone from forward Noel Acciari and initiated a two-on-two rush with forward Bryan Rust into Colorado’s zone against Avalanche defensemen Brent Burns and Devon Toews. Upon arrival at the blue line, Malkin backhanded a pass to the left wing for Rust. Veering toward the boards, Rust drew in Toews, then tapped a backhanded pass back to Malkin in the near circle. Accepting the offering on his forehand, Malkin moved to his backhand, spun to his left like a cyclone and flung a backhanded shot past goaltender Scott Wedgewood’s blocker on the near side. Rust and Acciari had assists.

Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon’s league-leading 45th goal tied the game only 67 seconds later.

After MacKinnon won a draw against Penguins forward Tommy Novak in Colorado’s right circle, defenseman Cale Makar, by design, rimmed the puck off the end boards and out of the defensive zone, creating an outlet pass, allowing Avalanche forward Martin Necas to gain the Penguins’ zone on the right wing. Pulling up in the right circle and spinning away from Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, Necas chipped a backhand pass toward the high slot. Novak got a piece of the puck but not enough to stop an onrushing MacKinnon from gathering it, then releasing a wrister that beat Silovs’ right shoulder then clunked off the left post before entering the cage. Necas and Makar merited assists.

The Penguins needed only 15 seconds to restore a lead via Mantha’s 26th goal, a new career high.

From the right point of the Penguins’ zone, Makar tried to rim the puck along the end boards but wasn’t quite on the mark. That allowed Karlsson to claim possession to the left of the cage. Turning his attention up ice, Karlsson lasered a stretch pass from the near corner to the far blue line, springing Mantha on a breakaway. With Makar in hot pursuit, Mantha approached the net, deked forehand to backhand a handful of times and deposited a tidy backhander through the five hole of a flummoxed Wedgewood. Karlsson claimed the lone assist.

Malkin struck again at 13:00 of the first period.

Under pressure in his own left circle, Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon whipped the puck off the near glass, banking it to the neutral zone. Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson tried to gather the puck near his own blue line but was overwhelmed by Penguins forward Egor Chinakhov, who claimed possession and rushed his way into Colorado’s zone on the right wing. With Manson and Avalanche defenseman Nick Blankenberg each hassling him in the right circle, Chinakhov slipped a backhand pass to the left hashmarks, where an unimpeded Malkin sizzled a wrister past Wedgewood’s blocker on the near side. Assists were collected by Chinakhov and Wotherspoon.

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Wedgewood was pulled, potentially for humanitarian concerns, after making two saves on five shots and was replaced by MacKenzie Blackwood.

An unlikely source put the Penguins up by a field goal a mere 43 seconds later when forward Elmer Soderblom scored his third goal of the season and first since joining the Penguins via trade March 6.

Corralling a puck at the left point of Colorado’s zone, Wotherspoon fed it to the opposite point for Karlsson. Considering his options for a moment, Karlsson snapped a shot/pass to the front of the slot where forward Connor Dewar deflected it on net. Blackwood made the initial save but yielded a rebound to the left of the crease, where Toews (6-foot-1, 191 pounds) was unable to prevent Soderblom (6-8, 252 pounds) from barging in to punch in a forehand shot by Blackwood’s right leg. Assists went to Dewar and Karlsson.

Burns capped the scoring in the defensively deficient first period with his 10th goal at the 14:21 mark.

Avalanche rookie forward Gavin Brindley hustled into the offensive zone at the center point, listed to the right wing, then pulled up, spun away from Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea and offloaded the puck to the near point where Burns leaned on his right knee and clapped a one-timer at the cage. Standing just inside the lower right hashmark, Mantha inadvertently deflected the puck with his stick past Silovs’ glove on the near side. Brindley and Manson mustered assists.

Karlsson got in on the act with his seventh goal at 10:36 of the second period.

Pushing play up the left wing, Shea approached the offensive blue line and dumped the puck into the end boards. The puck rimmed its way around the far corner and was corralled by Karlsson at the right point. Waiting for a shooting lane, Karlsson chucked a wrister toward the cage. Battling Acciari above the crease, Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski had the puck strike off his right glove and deflect off the ice and through Blackwood’s five hole. Shea secured the only assist.

Rust poured it on by scoring his 25th goal during a power-play scenario at 16:20 of the middle frame.

Stealing the puck in the defensive zone, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell turned to his right and fed a pass to Malkin, who initiated transition through the neutral zone. Approaching the center red line on the left wing, Malkin dished the puck across the ice to spring Rust on a breakaway. Coasting in from the right wing, Rust attacked the net and fired a wrister from the near circle through Blackwood’s five hole. Malkin and Rakell registered assists.

Chili was served at 9:06 of the third period when Acciari scored his ninth goal.

Rushing the puck up the left wing into the offensive zone, Dewar spun off a check from Manson, fell to the ice and flicked a centering pass. Acciari got a stick on the puck in the near circle and wound up deflecting it to the slot, where it was scooped in by Soderblom. Taking the puck on his backhand, Soderblom spun to his left and coolly slid a pass to the left of the crease where Acciari stopped it with his left skate, then shoved in a forehand shot behind Blackwood. Soderblom and Dewar had assists.

Notes:

• Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton recorded a fighting major at 10:59 of the third period after squaring off with Avalanche forward Jack Drury:

• Tuesday’s result matched a 5-0 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights on March 1 as the Penguins’ largest margin of victory this season.

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• The Penguins also matched their highest goal output for the season. They established that figure with a 7-3 road win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 28.

• Karlsson (158 points) surpassed forward Tomas Sandstrom (155 points) to move into 58th place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list.

• Soderblom became the 597th player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.

• Silovs (15-9-8) surpassed Garth Snow (14-15-4) to move into 32nd place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list.

• Penguins defenseman Sam Girard and forward Kevin Hayes were scratched due to undisclosed injuries.

• Penguins forward Avery Hayes and Jack St. Ivany were healthy scratches.

• Earlier in the day, St. Ivany was recalled from a conditioning assignment with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, while defenseman Alex Alexeyev was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.