Things are quite different for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers than they were 365 days ago.

One is fighting to reach the playoffs and one is not.

That dichotomy became official on Saturday when the Penguins trampled the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, 9-4, at PPG Paints Arena.

With the victory, the Penguins (39-22-16, 94 points) maintained their claim on second place in the Metropolitan Division and inched closer to their first postseason berth in three years.

Meanwhile, the Panthers, participants in each of the past three Stanley Cup Finals, were formally eliminated from postseason contention with the loss.

This time a year ago, the Penguins’ faint hopes for the playoffs were essentially extinguished.

“We know Florida (has) lots of injuries right now,” Malkin said. “They (do) not play great, and we fight (for) playoffs. We are in different situations.”

A common situation for the Penguins on Saturday was celebrating career milestones for their franchise colonnades as Malkin and Sidney Crosby each marked some impressive achievements.

Malkin recorded a hat trick and an assist, reaching the 1,400-point mark in the process. As for Crosby, he merely recorded a pair of assists and became the NHL’s seventh-leading leading career scorer with his 1,756th point, surpassing one of his idols, former Detroit Red Wings forward Steve Yzerman (1,755), for that designation.

“I almost cried a little bit,” Malkin said of fans chanting his nickname, ‘Geno’ throughout the contest. “It’s huge for me.”

The number of goals the Penguins hung on the Panthers was huge as it set a season-high for the team. They broke the previous mark, which was set on Monday during an 8-3 road win against the New York Islanders.

The Penguins’ fourth line opened the scoring a mere 20 seconds into regulation when former Panthers forward Noel Acciari accrued his 12th goal of the season.

Pushing the puck up ice from the defensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson banked a stretch pass off the wall in front of the visiting bench. From there, Penguins forward Elmer Soderblom deflected the puck forward, allowing Acciari to chug into Florida’s zone on the left wing. As Panthers defenseman Seth Jones provided resistance, Acciari fired a wrister from the left circle, which goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made the initial save on. Darting past Jones for the rebound, Acciari backhand tapped the puck, which fluttered into the air and over a surprised Bobrovsky before entering the cage. Soderblom and Karlsson had assists.

Karlsson scored his 14th goal during a power-play sequence at 5:06 of the first period.

Accepting a pass low in Florida’s right circle, Crosby considered his options for a moment before offloading the puck to the top of the circle, where Karlsson cranked a one-timer to the far side past Bobrovsky’s blocker. Malkin supplied an effective moving screen on the sequence. Crosby and forward Egor Chinakhov collected assists.

The Panthers got on the scoreboard at 7:10 of the opening period via forward A.J. Greer’s 15th goal.

Racing the puck through the neutral zone and gaining the Penguins’ zone on the left wing, Panthers rookie forward Cole Reinhardt lobbed a seemingly innocent wrister on net. Silovs made the initial save but surrendered a generous rebound below the right circle where Greer outraced Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea and punched a forehand shot through Silovs’ five hole. Reinhardt and defenseman Gustav Forsling facilitated assists.

Jones tied the game with his seventh goal at 14:31 of the first frame.

Winning a puck battle on the Penguins’ end boards against Shea and Penguins forward Rickard Rakell, Panthers forward Cole Schwindt banked a backhand pass off the right wing wall to the near point where Jones wound up and whacked a one-timer through a phalanx of bodies and past Silovs’ blocker on the far side. Schwindt secured the only assist.

The Penguins roared back to reclaim the lead with a five-goal outburst in the second period, starting with forward Anthony Mantha’s 31st goal at the 1:51 mark.

Stealing a puck on Florida’s left half-wall, Mantha chipped a pass attempt to the front of the crease intended for linemate Justin Brazeau. Before the puck reached its intended destination, Forsling reached back to break up the pass, only to deflect it under Bobrovsky’s right leg. Mantha was credited with the goal. There were no assists.

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The Penguins struck again during a power-play scenario at the 5:51 mark when Malkin scored his 16th goal, as well as his 1,400th career point.

Digging a puck out of the left corner of Florida’s zone, Crosby fed a pass to the center point for Karlsson. Keeping the puck onside, Karlsson held it for a moment before zipping a shot/pass to the right of the cage, where Malkin deflected it with the forehand of his stick blade, off the near post and over Bobrovsky’s glove before finding twine. Karlsson and Crosby collected assists.

“He called for it, I think, for a minute straight,” Karlsson said of his connection with Malkin. “I refused to give it to him until it was time. Obviously, that was a good sequence for us. I think we generated a lot on the power play and created a lot of looks. Sometimes you do that, and they don’t go in for you.

“Luckily, today, they did. After that, everybody just kind of kept going.”

Crosby’s assist on that goal moved him past Yzerman.

Malkin found the net again at 8:27 of the middle period.

Chasing down a puck chipped to the Panthers’ left wing boards, Penguins forward Tommy Novak zipped a pass to the top of the crease. The puck appeared to glance off of Jones’ stick and bounced to the far side of the crease, where an onrushing Malkin allowed it to deflect off his right leg and into the cage. Novak and Rakell recorded assists.

Soderblom got in on the act at 9:53 of the second period with his fifth goal.

Stealing a puck off Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe on Florida’s right half-wall, Penguins forward Conor Dewar zig-zagged his way across the ice to the far boards, then directed a pass through the skates of Panthers rookie defenseman Mikulas Hovorka to the slot. From just below the lower left hashmark, Soderblom deflected the puck with the backhand of his stick to the far side past the glove of a beleaguered Bobrovsky. The only assist went to Dewar.

Since joining the Penguins via a trade with the Red Wings on March 6, Soderblom has seven points (three goals, four assists) in 16 games.

With the Red Wings, he generated only three points (two goals, one assist) in 39 games.

“Just feel like I’m playing more freely and playing without thinking too much, and just (playing) my game,” Soderblom said when asked about the change of scenery. “And so far, I feel like it’s worked pretty good.”

Bobrovsky, one of the NHL’s top goaltenders, was pulled, potentially for humanitarian concerns, after stopping 13 of 19 shots. He was replaced by Daniil Tarasov. It marked the third time in the past four games the Penguins have chased a starting goaltender.

That augmentation did little to stymie the Penguins as Rakell scored the chili goal – his 22nd of the season – at the 17:48 mark while on a power-play opportunity.

Settling a puck in Florida’s right corner, Malkin backpedaled a bit toward the end boards and fed a pass to the near circle. Accepting the offering at the right dot, Rakell darted toward the slot, flipped the puck from his forehand to his backhand and lifted a shot past Tarasov’s blocker. Malkin and Karlsson collaborated on assists.

Shea poured it on at 18:07 with his sixth goal.

Chasing down a dump-in at Florida’s right corner, Mantha claimed the puck and fed it to the near point for Penguins defenseman Sam Girard, who proceeded to deal a pass to the opposite point for Shea. Deking past approaching Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist, Shea surged toward the high slot and shot a wrister. Panthers rookie defenseman Mike Benning was wrestling with Brazeau above the slot and wound up inadvertently deflecting the puck with his stick past Tarasov’s right skate. Girard and Mantha merited assists.

What led to such an outrageous second period?

“I don’t think anybody in here was too happy with how the first period ended,” Rakell said. “And we wanted to make sure in the second period, we came out better in the neutral zone, getting pucks in on the forecheck and getting chances and, yeah, getting looks on the power play because we were turning pucks over and creating chances.

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“Really good job from everybody after that.”

Malkin completed his hat trick 3:30 into the third period.

Stealing a puck off of Benning in Florida’s left circle, Malkin sauntered in on the cage and deposited a wrister past Tarasov’s right skate. There were no assists.

Panthers forward Noah Gregor stopped the bleeding with his fourth goal at 8:02 of the third frame.

Bursting into the offensive zone on the left wing like a comet, Gregor raced past Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton in the near circle, approached the net, cut across the top of the crease and tucked a backhander through Silovs’ five hole. Assists belonged to forwards Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk.

The scoring was capped at 10:46 of the third period via forward Mackie Samoskevich’s 10th goal.

After Letang and Malkin failed to connect on a pass in Florida’s zone, the puck bounced off the right wing wall and bounced to Greer, who initiated a two-on-one rush with Samoskevich against Girard. Taking a pass from Greer, Samoskevich gained the Penguins’ blue line on the right wing, advanced to the near circle and fired a wrister to the far side, beating Silovs’ blocker. Greer garnered the lone assist.

Silovs made 19 saves on 23 shots to improve his record to 18-10-8.

Oddly, the Penguins will host the Panthers on Sunday in a rare regular season “series” between the two teams.

“It’s something you don’t see,” Silovs said. “I’ve don’t think I’ve seen anything like that, especially back-to-back at home. But I’m sure they’re going to play differently. They’re going to probably try to outwork us.

“But I think we are more desperate. I think we’re just going to close it down tomorrow.”

One team will still have something to play for on Sunday.

“Points important,” Malkin said. “And two points for the team is important, because it’s huge for us. We’re fighting for playoffs.”

Notes:

• Clifton recorded a fighting major at 15:05 of the second period when he tussled with Panthers forward Luke Kunin.

• The Penguins were 3 for 3 on the power play. The Panthers did not have a power-play opportunity.

• The Penguins reached nine goals for the first time since a 9-2 road win against the Montreal Canadiens, Dec. 12, 2024.

• Malkin (39 years, 247 days) became the oldest player in franchise history to record a hat trick. He surpassed forward Mark Recchi (38 years, 353 days), who scored three in an 8-2 home win against the Maple Leafs, Jan. 20, 2007.

(Malkin had five assists in that game.)

• Crosby had the Penguins’ last hat trick against the Panthers during a 4-0 home win, March 19, 2017.

• Karlsson (172 points) surpassed forward Petr Nedved (170) for 50th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Silovs (18-10-8) surpassed Steve Guenette (17-5-0) for 27th place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list.

• Penguins forwards Kevin Hayes (undisclosed) and Blake Lizotte (undisclosed), as well as defenseman Caleb Jones (right shoulder) were scratched due to injuries.

• Penguins defensemen Ryan Graves, Ilya Solovyov and Jack St. Ivany were healthy scratches.

• Former Penguins forward Vinnie Hinostroza (healthy) and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (broken nose) were scratched by the Panthers.

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