Second line soars as Penguins beat Calgary with Stuart Skinner picking up another victory

<strong>Second line soars as Penguins beat Calgary with Stuart Skinner picking up another victory</strong>

King Jemison, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jan 22, 2026

Published in Hockey

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CALGARY, Alberta — It seemed strange that Penguins coach Dan Muse moved Evgeni Malkin from his customary center position upon his return from injury earlier this month.

But that bold lineup decision from the first-year coach is looking pretty smart now. Placing Tommy Novak between Egor Chinakhov and Malkin has netted positive results for several games now — and they were particularly brilliant Wednesday.

Each member of the second line scored en route to a 4-1 Penguins win against the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Pittsburgh goalie Stuart Skinner won his sixth game in seven starts, saving 18 of 19 shots in yet another strong performance.

Playing without their two top-scoring defensemen in Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang, the Penguins got an early offensive contribution from their blueliners anyway.

Jack St. Ivany fired a pass to Ryan Shea, who drove the puck from the blue line. Malkin perfectly deflected it into the back of the net to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.

That score would hold through the period. But after dominating the early part of the first, the Penguins ceded the momentum in the latter half.

They returned to the form in the second and added to their lead 12:32 into the period on another nasty release from Chinakhov, set up by a cross-ice feed from Malkin that Novak beautifully touched to his linemate.

Facing a team tied for the fourth-fewest points in the league that just traded away one of its best players, it seemed the Penguins might cruise from there. But the Flames made it much more interesting in the final seconds of the middle period.

New Flame Zach Whitecloud, acquired in the Rasmus Andersson trade, shot the puck from just inside the blue line, and Yegor Sharangovich tipped it past Skinner from the slot with 2.7 seconds remaining to make it 2-1 Penguins entering the second intermission.

But Bryan Rust quickly gave the Penguins breathing room again with a goal 50 seconds into the third period. He wrapped the puck around the net, and it made it through multiple bodies and past Dustin Wolf.

Novak added to the lead with a gorgeous play on the rush, freezing Wolf with the threat of a pass to Chinakhov and then flipping it over the Calgary netminder for a top-shelf goal.

It was over when…

Novak showed off some fancy stick skills for a goal that gave the Penguins a 4-1 lead 9:19 into the third period.

Stat of the game

5: Combined points for the second line of Chinakhov, Novak and Malkin — who were incredible as a collective throughout the game Wednesday.

Around the boards

• Karlsson missed his fifth straight game with a lower-body injury. But his absence is not likely to stretch much longer. He was a full participant at Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s morning skate.

• Letang missed his first game of the season with an upper-body injury. The Penguins designated him day-to-day Tuesday. St. Ivany returned to the lineup in Letang’s absence.

• Defenseman Ilya Solovyov, acquired via trade from Colorado on Tuesday, was a healthy scratch.

• Skinner was the first Penguins goalie to start back-to-back games since Tristan Jarry took three in a row from Dec. 1-7. Penguins coach Dan Muse said he’d “earned that right” Wednesday morning — but it means he almost certainly won’t start in his return to Edmonton on Thursday.

Up next

The Penguins play the second half of an Albertan back-to-back Thursday at the Oilers. It will be another late game for fans watching in Pittsburgh, with a 9 p.m. Eastern time puck drop.