Evgeni Malkin lit the lamp not once, not twice, but THREE times to help lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a three-goal victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. With this win, the Penguins now take a two games to none lead in the series.

Malkin’s second goal of the game broke a 4-4 tie midway through the third period, and his lethal backhanded shot shown here finally gave him the hat trick:

This goal was Malkin’s 10th goal of the postseason.

Carolina had won their last five Game 2s, but were unable to extend that streak to six. Nevertheless, they will host Game 3, which will be played on Saturday night.

Sidney Crosby, Maxime Talbot, Chris Kunitz, and Tyler Kennedy all scored goals for Pittsburgh while Chad LaRose, Jussi Jokinen, Dennis Seidenberg, and Patrick Eaves scored for the Hurricanes.

Carolina netminder Cam Ward allowed six goals on 41 shots, which was the most of his 39-game playoff career. Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves on 28 shots.

The Pittsburgh Penguins continued their winning ways with a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 23 saves on 25 shots, is now 5-for-5 when hosting a Game 1 of a playoff series.

Miroslav Satan scored the first goal of the game 9:17 into the first period to draw first blood. A minute-and-a-half later, Evgeni Malkin increased the lead to two with his seventh goal of the postseason. After one period, the Penguins led 2-0.

Chad LaRose halved the lead with his third goal of the playoffs with seven minutes left in the second period. After two, Pittsburgh led 2-1.

Philippe Boucher netted a power play marker that restored Pittsburgh’s 2-goal lead. Joe Corvo made it a game, however, when he scored a power play goal of his own with 1:26 left in the game. However, it wasn’t enough as Carolina has lost its third consecutive Game 1 in this postseason.

Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are now the only players with 20+ points in this year’s playoffs. Malkin has 21 while Crosby has 22.

The Boston Bruins have just defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, North Carolina, to force a seventh game in their high-scoring series.

Game 6 at the RBC Center did not stay scoreless for long tonight. 2:01 into the game, RW Mark Recchi scored his second goal and fourth point of the 2009 playoffs, assisted by Patrice Bergeron and Chuck Kobasew.

Three minutes later, little-known Defenseman Steve Montador put the Bruins up 2-0, assisted by David Krejci as well as Michael Ryder. Though Matt Cullen of the Canes made it interesting, scoring to make it 2-1 early in the second period, Marc Savard and Chuck Kobasew would tag on what would be a game-decider for Savard, and a much-needed insurance goal for Kobasew.

Though he allowed two goals, Tim Thomas had a phenomenal game for the Bruins. He made 31 saves out of 33 shots, and made some amazing stops. At one point in the game, the puck was fired by Eric Staal on a slap-shot, but Thomas lunged out to make an amazing save, which may have been the highlight of the game defensively for the Bruins.

Thomas’ opposite goaltender, Cam Ward, saw only 19 shots-on-goal. However, he allowed four to go by, only having 15 saves to show for what was not one of his better nights.

Mark Recchi, Marc Savard, Chuck Kobasew, and Steve Montador all had Boston goals tonight in Raleigh. Kobasew and Recchi both had an assist as well, and Patrice Bergeron finished with two assists. Phil “The One-Nut Wonder” Kessel had a frustrating night, leading the team in shots with five, but with no goals to show for it. Captain Zdeno Chara led the team in playtime, as well as blocked shots with four.

For the Canes, goals were scored by C Matt Cullen and LW Sergei Samsonov. Scott Walker, Tim Gleason, Chad LaRose, and Eric Staal all had assists. In every goal scored in the game, two men had assists. Gleason led the team in blocked shots with three. The most physical players tonight were Tuomo Ruutu and Erik Cole, who led the game with eight hits.

There was a scary moment for Bruins fans late in the game tonight, as Center Marc Savard, who scored what would be the game-winning goal in the second period, left the game with what looked like a leg injury. His availability for Thursday’s Game 7 is a large concern for the Bruins, as he has made a big difference in the playoffs with six goals and five assists thus far.

The top-seeded Bruins have forced Game 7 after being pushed to the limit by the 6th-seed Hurricanes, who won 4-1 in Game 4, creating a 3-1 series lead. However, the B’s have not trailed since that loss, and seem to have all the momentum going back home for the series finale.

A total of 28 goals have been scored so far in this series. In all three of their victories, the Bruins have scored four goals and won by at least two. The winning team has never scored less than three times in this series, while the losing team has yet to score above two.

Anaheim Ducks 4 Detroit Red Wings 3 (3 OT) – Todd Marchant’s first goal of the postseason came at a perfect time: just 75 seconds into the third overtime period in Game two against the defending Stanley Cup Champions. However, if not for the stellar goaltending of Swiss netminder Jonas Hiller, the Ducks would surely have been down two games in the series. Hiller made 59 saves on 62 shots as he handed Detroit their first loss in the playoffs. Hiller has never even played in a double overtime game before because back in Switzerland, they have shootouts. Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Pronger, and Ryan Carter also scored for Anaheim, who leveled the series at one game apiece with this victory.

Carolina Hurricanes 3 Boston Bruins 0 – Cam Ward had an equally fantastic day in net, stopping 36 of 36 shots to earn his shutout in his last four playoff games. Joe Corvo, Matt Cullen, and Eric Staal all scored for Carolina, who also leveled their playoff series at one game apiece. However, check out what happened at the end of the second period:

LaRose’s goal was initially waived off, and after video review, the “no goal” call stood.