Penguins 4, Blues 3 (OT)
PITTSBURGH -- Center Evgeni Malkin scored on a backhander at 1:03 of overtime Wednesday to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 victory against the St. Louis Blues.
Center Sidney Crosby scored two goals and defenseman Ben Lovejoy added one for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who ended a four-game homestand 3-1.
Centers Paul Stastny and Robby Fabbri and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo scored for St. Louis, which dropped to 2-0-2 in its past four games.
Seven of the past eight games between the teams have been decided by one goal, five of them going beyond regulation.
Crosby's goals gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead going into the third period, but Fabbri pulled St. Louis into a 2-2 tie with a wrist shot at 1:12 of the third period.
Lovejoy restored the Penguins' lead, 3-2, at 6:49 of the third on a wrist shot from the top of the slot with Pietrangelo providing a screen. It was Lovejoy's second goal of the season and just the 13th of his career.
After the Blues were able to sustain some pressure in the Pittsburgh end, Pietrangelo tied it 3-3 with a shot from the right dot at 14:19 of the third.
The Blues took a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 9:15 of the first period. Stastny, stationed near the right post, deftly shoveled a blast from the center point by left winger Alexander Steen inside the post and behind the outstretched leg of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Crosby tied it for Pittsburgh 1-1 at 16:19 of the first period. Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson attempted a cross-ice pass from the left-wing boards in his defensive zone, but the puck hit the stick of Penguins left winger Pascal Dupuis and bounced directly to Crosby, who was alone in the slot and beat goaltender Jake Allen with slap shot.
The goal was the first of Crosby's career against St. Louis, the only NHL opponent against which he had not scored. He previously had 31 shots in 10 games against the Blues. It was his fourth goal of the season and gave him his first three-game points streak.
Crosby struck again at 9:57 of the second period, this time with a power-play goal for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead. Malkin, from the right circle, found Crosby in the slot. Crosby's fluttering redirection sailed past the screen of right winger Patric Hornqvist and past Allen.
It was Crosby's first two-goal game of the season.
NOTES: St. Louis C Paul Stastny played in his second game after missing 16 because of a broken right foot. ... The Blues held an optional morning skate. ...The Blues scratched RW Scottie Upshall, C Scott Gomez and D Joel Edmonson. ... St. Louis' next two games are at home. ... Five of Pittsburgh's next six games are on the road. ... The Penguins scratched RW Daniel Sprong and D David Warsofsky. ... Hockey analyst and former Penguins player Matthew Barnaby said on two radio shows Wednesday that there is a rift between Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby and team owner and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux. Through the Penguins Twitter account, Lemieux, who rarely speaks publicly, said, "It's absolutely not true. It's silly." ... This was the Penguins' 39th home game on Thanksgiving Eve.