PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin collected his 14th career hat trick and added an assist to become the 23rd player in NHL history to reach 1,400 career points, and the Pittsburgh Penguins routed the Florida Panthers 9-4 on Saturday to eliminate the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions from playoff contention.
The Panthers began the season hoping to become the first team since the New York Islanders of the early 1980s to win three straight championships.
It never came close to happening as injuries and shaky play in net sent them tumbling to the bottom of the standings early in the season, a hole from which they never fully recovered.
While Florida will miss the playoffs for the first time in four years, Pittsburgh is inching toward a return to the postseason after three straight absences.
The Penguins strengthened their hold on second in the Metropolitan Division by blitzing the Panthers during the first half of the second period, pouring in four goals in less than 10 minutes.
Anthony Mantha broke a 2-2 tie with his 31st goal of the season just 1:51 into the second. Malkin then beat Sergei Bobrovsky twice in less than 3 minutes to create more than enough breathing room.
Erik Karlsson had a goal and three assists for Pittsburgh. Noel Acciari and Elmer Soderblom added a goal and an assist. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby picked up a pair of assists to move past Hall of Famer and childhood idol Steve Yzerman and into seventh place on the NHL's all-time scoring list (1,756).
Artur Silovs stopped 19 shots for the Penguins and had little work to do after Pittsburgh chased Bobrovsky following Soderblom's third goal in 15 games since being acquired in a trade with Detroit.
The teams meet again on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena in a rare back-to-back at the same venue.
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