Malkin Fuels Penguins’ Win – NHL News And Scores For March 5th

UNDATED (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin was productive in his first game since suffering a concussion against Florida on Feb. 22.

Malkin and Sidney Crosby scored in the third period as the Pens rallied to beat Tampa Bay 4-3. Malkin tied the game with 14:22 remaining before Crosby tallied less than two minutes later. Malkin later assisted on James Neal's empty-netter, which proved to be the game-winner.

Crosby also had an assist and Kris Letang set up two goals as the Atlantic Division leaders moved five points ahead of second-place New Jersey.

The Lightning dropped their fifth in a row despite Steven Stamkos, who scored his league-leading 17th goal.

Anaheim has its first losing streak of the season after Phoenix beat the Ducks 5-4 in a shootout for the second time in three days. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in the fifth round of the shootout and Mike Smith stopped Bobby Ryan to secure the win.

The Ducks still own the league's second-best record at 15-3-3 despite the losing streak.

Also in the NHL, Jeff Carter capped his fifth career hat trick by scoring twice during a 19-second span in the third period of the Los Angeles Kings' 5-1 win over Nashville. Jonathan Bernier (BURN'-yay) made 18 saves for his career-high fifth straight win.

Nazem Kadri leads Toronto with 23 points after collecting a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over New Jersey, the Devils' fifth straight loss. The Maple Leafs trailed 2-1 until Clarke MacArthur, Jay McClement and Phil Kessel scored in the first 9:52 of the third period.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The NHL is increasing the number of teams eligible to make the No. 1 pick in its draft to 14, and announced that all seven rounds of the draft at the Prudential Center will take place June 30.

The league announced Monday that all 14 teams that miss the playoffs, or the teams that hold the rights to the top 14 picks, will be eligible for the No. 1 draft pick.

The lottery, which will be held April 29, will be weighted with the teams having the fewest points in the regular season having the best chance of winning.

Under the previous system, the five teams with the fewest points had the opportunity to win the top selection since no team could move up more than four spots.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes say goalie Cam Ward will miss six to eight weeks with a sprained knee ligament. The good news for the club is that Ward will not require surgery.

The team says Ward suffered a third-degree sprain to his medial collateral ligament midway through the second period of Sunday night's 3-2 win at Florida.

The injury makes backup Dan Ellis the team's No. 1 goalie. Ellis is 3-2-1 with a 2.53 goals-against average in his first season in Carolina.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The NHL has suspended Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta (kah-LET'-uh) for five games without pay for shoving New York Rangers forward Brad Richards from behind and into the boards in Sunday's game.

Kaleta was assessed a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct. The league took into account that Richards was shaken up, but returned. The league also noted Kaleta had been suspended twice before in his career.

Kaleta will lose more than $72,000 in salary, and begin serving the suspension Tuesday, when Buffalo plays at Carolina.