Malkin reaches 1,200 NHL points, Penguins defeat Gibson, Ducks

ANAHEIM -- Evgeni Malkin had two assists to give him 1,200 NHL points, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won 6-3 against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.

The 36-year-old forward has 463 goals and 737 assists in 1,032 NHL games.
"Twelve hundred is a good number," Malkin said. "Three more years, maybe when I'm retired, and I have 1,500 points, it's a good number too."
Pierre-Olivier Joseph had two goals and an assist, and Kasperi Kapanen and Bryan Rust each had a goal and assist for the Penguins (26-16-9), who set a their record for the most shots on goal in a road game (59) in the opener of a four-game trip. Casey DeSmith made 28 saves.
"We obviously started well," DeSmith said. "I thought we carried it for most of the game."
John Gibson set a team record with 53 saves for the Ducks (17-30-6), who were 4-0-1 in their previous five games. Mason McTavish had a goal and an assist.
Gibson set Anaheim's previous record of 52 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on April 12, 2022.
"It's tough to say when you give up six goals that your goalie was really good, but he was really good," Ducks defenseman John Klingberg said.

Joseph scored on a wrist shot from the high slot for a 1-0 lead at 9:03 of the first period.
Anaheim was getting outshot 18-5 when Trevor Zegras chipped the puck into the net with a backhand two seconds into a power play to tie it 1-1 at 15:26.
Pittsburgh moved back ahead 2-1 at 17:38 when Kapanen's pass into the slot went off the stick of Ducks defenseman Simon Benoit and into the net.
Gibson and Anaheim defenseman Cam Fowler could not connect on a short pass behind the net, and Jeff Carter scored to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead with 13 seconds left in the first.
"Those guys took advantage of everything that we gave them," Zegras said.
Joseph made it 4-1 at 14:55 of the second period when he scored on another wrist shot from the high slot with an assist from Malkin.

Rust made it 5-1 at 10:04 of the third with a backhand shot from in close. Malkin had the primary assist to become the 51st NHL player to reach 1,200 points. He has 10 (three goals, seven assists) in his past four games.
"I forget these points and [I'm] ready to play (Saturday at the Los Angeles Kings)," Malkin said.
Sidney Crosby assisted on Jake Guentzel's goal at 12:08 to make it 6-1 and extend his point streak to nine games (three goals, 11 assists).
"I thought it was a pretty dominant performance," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought we had the puck an awful lot and I thought we generated numerous amounts of scoring chances."
McTavish scored at 13:34, and Klingberg at 15:58 for the 6-3 final.
"We've been good enough in a lot of games this year coming back in the third period," Klingberg said. "There's no reason to quit, but obviously we can do a lot better throughout the game than we did tonight."
NOTES: Malkin is the fourth active NHL player to reach 1,200 points (Crosby, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks). He has three straight multipoint games, and six in his past nine. ... Joseph, 23, is the third Penguins defenseman in the past 30 years to have multiple three-point games before turning 24, joining Kris Letang and Ryan Whitney. ... Letang was a late scratch because of illness. ... Pittsburgh forward Rickard Rakell returned to Anaheim for the first time since he was traded to Penguins on March 21, 2022, after 10 seasons with the Ducks. He had four shots and was plus-1 in 22:35 of ice time. ... Zegras (44 points; 19 goals, 25 assists) is one of two players 21 or younger to lead his team in points this season; Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils is the other. … Zegras has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in his past 11 games.