NHL Betting: Penguins Beat Rangers Behind Malkin's Trick

The hats flew off for Evgeni Malkin on Monday. (AI Wire photo)

Jaromir Jagr may have looked at Evgeni Malkin Monday night and seen a little of his old self.

The big kid nicknamed Gino put on a show similar to what Jagr used to do regularly during his elite days playing sidekick with Mario Lemieux. The new generation of Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Malkin and Sidney Crosby, overwhelmed Jagr’s New York Rangers in a 4-1 rout at Mellon Arena.

Malkin netted his hat trick in 11 games and Crosby added two assists as the Penguins paid -145 on the puckline (meaning a winning hockey bet of $145 would net $100). The betting total was just under 5.5 goals.

With goals 3:02 apart in the first period, Malkin staked Pittsburgh to a 2-0 lead. Sergei Gonchar made it 3-0 before the intermission and Malkin added an empty-net goal to complete the scoring and the hat trick in the third period.

Jagr scored shorthanded for the Rangers in the only NHL game on the schedule.

Goalie Ty Conklin made 43 saves and Pittsburgh improved to 9-0-1 in its last 10 games, which includes a six-game home winning streak.

For NHL odds for Tuesday, faceoff with the Bodog Sportsbook.