John Gibson makes 53 saves, but Ducks lose to Penguins

Ducks get franchise-record 53 saves from John Gibson but are dominated by Penguins

Penguins players celebrate after Pierre-Olivier Joseph (73) scored during the first period Feb. 10, 2023, at Honda Center.

By Joe Reedy

Associated Press

Feb. 10, 2023 10:05 PM PT

Pierre-Olivier Joseph had two goals and an assist and Evgeni Malkin had two assists to become the third player in franchise history to reach 1,200 career points as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ducks 6-3 on Friday night at Honda Center.

Kasperi Kapanen and Bryan Rust each had a goal and an assist. Jeff Carter and Jake Guentzel also scored, while Casey DeSmith stopped 28 shots.

Malkin reached the milestone with the primary assist on Rust’s goal at 10:04 of the third period, which put Pittsburgh up 5-1. He joined Mario Lemieux (1,723) and Sidney Crosby (1,472) as the only Penguins players to reach that mark.

Malkin also is the fourth active player in the NHL to reach 1,200 points, behind Crosby, Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin (1,464) and Chicago’s Patrick Kane (1,214). It was Malkin’s seventh multipoint game in his last 11. He has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) during that span.

The Penguins (26-16-9) — who have won two straight games and three of their last five — dominated play for most of the night, as they had 10 players record at least a point. Pittsburgh also set a franchise road record with 59 shots. It was the third-most shots the Penguins have had in a regular-season game.

Mason McTavish had a goal and an assist and Trevor Zegras and John Klingberg also scored for the Ducks (17-30-6), whose five-game point streak ended. John Gibson made a franchise regular-season record 53 saves.

Ducks goalie John Gibson makes a save against the Penguins' Josh Archibald (15) during the second period Feb. 10, 2023.

Joseph came into the game with two goals this season and three goals in 66 career games before finding the back of the net twice. The third-year defenseman put Pittsburgh on the board nine minutes into the first period with a snap shot from the point that went in off the near post.

Joseph then extended the lead to 4-1 at 14:55 of the second period when he took a pass from Malkin and beat Gibson on his blocker side.

Joseph became the fifth Penguins defenseman age 23 or younger to record a multigoal game in the past 30 years. Olli Maatta was the last to accomplish it in 2018.

Pittsburgh's Pierre-Olivier Joseph (73) is greeted by Evgeni Malkin after Joseph scored in the second period Feb. 10, 2023.

Quick goal

Zegras tied it at 1 at 15:26 of the first when he scored two seconds into the Ducks’ power play.

Adam Henrique won the faceoff in the offensive zone and chipped it to Zegras, who beat DeSmith with a backhand goal. Zegras has 19 goals this season, including four on the power play.