Malkin collects career point 1,399 in return from injury, Penguins race by reeling Red Wings 5-1

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Egor Chinakov had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Malkin added an assist in his return to the lineup and the Pittsburgh Penguins raced past the sagging Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Tuesday night.

A night after blowing out the New York Islanders on the road, Pittsburgh followed it up with another impressive performance against one of the teams it is trying to fend off for a playoff spot.

Chinakov, Rickard Rakell, and Anthony Mantha scored first-period goals to give the Penguins a massive early cushion that the Red Wings never really threatened to overcome. Justin Brazeau ended a 12-game goal drought, and Stuart Skinner stopped 22 shots for Pittsburgh, which remained in second place in the Metropolitan Division with seven games left in the regular season despite missing veteran forward Bryan Rust, who was a late scratch with a lower-body injury.

Detroit, which was in first place in the Atlantic Division at the season's midway point, has dropped four of five and remains on the outside of the chase for one of the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots. Dylan Larkin scored to reach the 30-goal plateau for the fifth straight season, but John Gibson, a Pittsburgh native, struggled early and was pulled after the first period while falling to 6-10-1 all-time against his hometown team.

Rakell pushed his point streak to six games when he ripped a shot from the slot that beat Gibson just 4:10 into the first. Rakell has seven goals during his late-season hot streak.

Malkin, who hadn't played since March 22 due to an upper-body injury, provided a jolt in his return to the lineup. The Russian star was part of a scrum at the Detroit net and somehow helped the puck end up on Mantha's stick.

Mantha, an 11-year veteran having the finest season of his career, pumped in the rebound 8:34 into the first to make it 2-0. The assist pushed Malkin's career point total to 1,399.

Chinakov made it 3-0 late in the first when his shot from just outside the left circle slipped by Gibson, and the Penguins cruised from there. The 25-year-old has 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) in 36 games with Pittsburgh after being acquired from Columbus in December.

Red Wings: At Philadelphia on Thursday.

Penguins: At Tampa Bay on Thursday.

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