Pittsburgh: Third-period goals by Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel ruined former teammate Marc-Andre Fleury’s homecoming as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Fleury, who won three Stanley Cups with the Penguins — including the last two seasons — returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since Vegas selected him in the expansion draft last summer. Fleury, who stopped 33 shots, beat his former teammates in December in Las Vegas.
“I think it was an important game, and obviously with [Fleury] coming in it added a lot of emotion,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “Once you get out there, you’re trying to win a game and he’s trying to do the same thing.”
Malkin gave the Penguins a 4-2 lead with his 30th of the season at 3:09 of the third period. Malkin, who scored in his fifth straight game, became the fifth player in team history to score 30 goals six times.
Kessel extended the lead to 5-2 a little more than three minutes later on a one-touch, backdoor feed from Malkin.
Jake Guentzel, Ryan Reaves and Ian Cole also scored for Pittsburgh, who won for the fifth time in six games.
Matt Murray, Fleury’s former understudy in Pittsburgh, made 21 saves to top his mentor.
William Karlsson scored his 28th of the season for the Golden Knights. James Neal, who spent four seasons in Pittsburgh, got his 23rd. Ryan Carpenter and Jonathan Marchessault scored in the third period for Vegas, who nearly rallied from a three-goal deficit.
