Die Nacktbar » PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin corralled the puck near

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin corralled the puck near his own goal-line and saw Phil Kessel sprinting out of the zone. He flipped a perfect pass to center ice Custom Anaheim Ducks Jerseys , sending Kessel on a breakaway that resulted in a goal.Carl Hagelin repeated a similar sequence with Kessel later in the second period that ended the same way.The two goals completed a natural hat trick for Kessel and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Thursday night.“There’s a fine line between anticipation and cheating and I think Phil has a knack for seeing those windows of opportunity,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He has explosive speed so he can create separation when he needs to. He has another gear and you could see that on those breakaways.”Vegas scored the first goal of the game, and Kessel had the next three. It was Kessel’s sixth career hat trick and first in four seasons with Pittsburgh. His last hat trick came Feb. 1, 2014, as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a 6-3 win against Ottawa.“It’s been awhile,” said Kessel, who switched sticks before his hat trick. “It felt good. I had some good passes and I was able to finish.”Jake Guentzel scored his third goal and Malkin had three assists for the Penguins, who allowed 11 goals in their first two games.“I could see our guys making more of a concerted effort to defend,” Sullivan said. “I think our team is capable of getting to another level. I don’t think we had our swagger like we’re capable of, but from an effort standpoint, you can see they were trying to do the right things.”Casey DeSmith stopped 35 shots in his first regular-season start for Pittsburgh. Starter Matt Murray missed Thursday’s game and is day-to-day with a concussion suffered Monday during practice. Murray participated in www.officialcoyotes.com , and faced shots during, Thursday’s optional morning skate.Reilly Smith scored his second of the season for Vegas and 100th career goal. Tomas Nosek also scored for Vegas, which lost its third straight and has opened the season with four losses in five games. The defending Western Conference champions lost their fourth game on Nov. 2 last season.Malcolm Subban made 18 saves for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury, who spent 13 seasons and won three Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh, served as the backup after allowing four goals on 28 shots during a loss Wednesday at Washington. Fans chanted for Fleury — selected in 2017 by Vegas in the expansion draft — after Subban allowed three goals on seven shots in the second period.“We just have to stay positive,” Subban said. “We’ve been generating a lot of shots on net. Eventually, we’re going to start getting some bounces.”Nosek opened the scoring, taking a pass from Jonathan Marchessault along the boards and slipping a backhander behind DeSmith.But Kessel answered for Pittsburgh when he beat Subban with a wrist shot following a Malkin faceoff win.Kessel’s breakaway goal midway through the second put Pittsburgh in front for good. Malkin hit Kessel at center with a stretch pass from his own goal-line and he finished the breakaway with a glove-side wrist shot.To complete the hat trick, Hagelin hit Kessel with a long outlet pass and he beat Subban low to the glove side.“I was just kind of going down and shooting,” Kessel said. “Nothing special. The pucks found me and I had two good plays.”Guentzel’s blocker-side wrist shot 57 seconds later on a backhand feed from Sidney Crosby gave Pittsburgh a comfortable three-goal lead through two periods.Kessel did all the damage before Pittsburgh’s last goal.“We needed the win,” Kessel said. “I think we can get better. We just have to improve each game.”NOTES: Vegas is 0-for-13 on the power play in five games. … Pittsburgh D Juuso Riikola made his NHL debut in place of D Olli Maatta, who was a healthy scratch. … The Penguins recalled G Tristan Jarry from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to back up DeSmith. Pittsburgh assigned D Derek Grant to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. … Tomas Hyka played on the third line for Vegas in place of Oscar Lindberg Arizona Coyotes T-Shirts Authentic , who was a healthy scratch.UP NEXTVegas: Close a five-game road trip at Philadelphia on Saturday.Penguins: Play their first road game at Montreal on Saturday. CHICAGO (AP) — Artemi Panarin had a big night against his former team, making the most of a little luck.Panarin had two goals and an assist, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Saturday night for their fifth win in six games.Pierre-Luc Dubois added a goal and an assist for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 39 saves in his sixth straight start. Cam Atkinson and Josh Anderson also scored.The Blue Jackets’ line of Panarin, Dubois and Atkinson generated several prime scoring opportunities.“I thought everybody contributed, but the top line did some damage,” coach John Tortorella said.The 27-year-old Panarin began his NHL career with Chicago. He had 61 goals and 90 assists in 162 games with the Blackhawks before he was traded to the Blue Jackets in June 2017.Panarin said he misses the fans in Chicago and stays in touch with former linemate Patrick Kane. But he relished an opportunity to do some damage against his old club.“It was very important for me to score in general, especially against the Blackhawks, and it was important for my team,” Panarin said through a translator. “I have today, twice more (motivation) of everything. Nobody can hold me down.”Chicago had won eight of nine to get back into the wild-card race in the crowded Western Conference.“I think a lot of things are still there,” Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. “I’m not sure it’s so different. I think the results are different.“Honestly Arizona Coyotes Hoodies Authentic , we didn’t have the full 60 (minutes) we wanted, but there still were some good sports that allowed us to stay in the game.”Kane had a goal and an assist while extending his point streak to 17 games, matching the longest in the NHL this season. Jonathan Toews also scored for Chicago.The Blue Jackets scored on three of their last four shots in the first period to take a 3-1 lead.DuBois opened the scoring at 12:36 when he cut around Chicago defenseman Erik Gustafsson on the left wing, gained a step and fired a shot over Cam Ward’s shoulder.Kane responded with a power-play goal with 3:46 left in the period. Kane beat a lunging Bobrovsky with a screened shot from the right circle after Alex DeBrincat made a cross-ice feed.It was Kane’s 35th of the season. The dynamic winger has 13 goals and 24 assists during his point streak.Columbus went ahead to stay when Panarin converted a one-timer from the slot just 17 seconds after Kane’s goal. Panarin seemed to be covered by Chicago’s Carl Dahlstrom, but Oliver Bjorkstrand made a pinpoint pass from behind the net.Atkinson completed a 2-on-1 break with Panarin with 38 seconds left in the period after Chicago’s Connor Murphy lost the puck just inside the Columbus zone. It was Atkinson’s team-high 32nd goal.Chicago picked up the pace as the second period progressed, outshooting Columbus 20-9 in the frame and testing Bobrovsky in close.Toews cut it to 3-2 on Chicago’s final shot of the period with 34 seconds left. Gustafsson swooped in behind the Columbus net and found Toews alone at the right edge of the crease.It was Toews’ 27th goal. The captain has nine goals and seven assists in his last 10 games. Kane extended his team-record assist streak to 16 games on the play.Panarin added his 24th on a deflection just 12 seconds into the third. From a faceoff, Seth Jones fired from the blue line. Panarin was turning in the slot and had his back to the play, but the shot caromed of the shaft of his stick and bounced past Ward.“I was worried (Jones) was going to hit my soft spot,” Panarin joked.“That’s why I was trying to run away and it hit my stick.”Ward, who had won five in a row, blocked 25 shots.After another goal for Atkinson was waived off following a video review for offside, Anderson made it 5-2 with 4:44 left when Ward juggled his shot from the right circle and the puck landed in the net.NOTES: Chicago G Corey Crawford Arizona Coyotes Hats Authentic , who has been sidelined since Dec. 16 with his second concussion in two seasons, missed the game-day skate because of an illness. But he thinks he is close to returning. … Columbus C Boone Jenner sat out with an undisclosed injury and F Brandon Dubinsky (hip) missed his sixth game after being placed on IR on Friday. … Blue Jackets F Kole Sherwood, a native of New Albany, Ohio, made his NHL debut and became the first local player to skate for the team. The 22-year-old was recalled from Cleveland of the AHL on Friday. Tortorella downplayed Sherwood’s hometown connection. “I don’t care if he’s from Mars,” Tortorella said. “If he can play and add something to help us win, great.” … The announced United Center crowd of 22,196 was the Blackhawks’ largest this season and their 486th straight sellout.UP NEXTBlue Jackets: Host Tampa Bay on Monday.Blackhawks: Host Ottawa on Monday.