Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin recorded a hat trick in his preseason debut and led his team to a 5-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday at the Sudbury (Ont.) Community Arena.
According to the team’s radio broadcast, Penguins forward Blake Lizotte suffered an undisclosed injury early in the contest after he was struck by a puck on the bench before taking a shift. There was no immediate word on his status.
Malkin’s first two goals came at 14 minutes, 59 seconds (power-play) and 17:02 of the second period. His third was on an empty net at 17:44 of the third period.
He was supplemented by forward Sidney Crosby, also in his debut, who scored at 8:54 of the first period and 7:53 (power play) of the third.
Senators forwards Nick Cousins (4:00) and Tim Stutzle (12:56) each scored their first goals of the preseason in the first period.
In his first game this preseason, Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry started the contest and made 24 saves on 26 shots in 31:33 of ice time. As designed, he was replaced by reserve Filip Larsson midway through the second period. The NHL was unable to immediately provide accurate statistics for Larsson’s performance in the contest. Appearing in his second game this preseason, Larsson’s record improved to 1-0-0.
The Penguins’ next game this preseason is a road contest against the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, shortly after 7 p.m. This contest was scheduled for Saturday but was postponed because of travel issues for the Penguins.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.