WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ How do you prefer your hat tricks: Gordie Howe or traditional?
The Penguins offered up both in a 7-4 win against the Jets Wednesday night, moving past a first period marred by fights and penalties to start their Western Canada road trip with a win.
Nick Bonino picked up the old-fashioned hat trick, which included two goals in the second period when the Penguins blew the game open.
Evgeni Malkin, meanwhile, used a first-period fight with Jets captain Blake Wheeler to spark his night, which ended with two goals, an assist and some measure of revenge against a Winnipeg crowd that booed him every time he touched the puck from the opening faceoff.
There were, apparently, some raw feelings lingering in Winnipeg from the first meeting between the teams this season, when Malkin took down Wheeler with a borderline hit.
So, at 3:33 of the first period Wednesday, Malkin and Wheeler dropped the gloves and fought right off a faceoff.
Reasonable minds might think that would settle the hostilities, but apparently it did not. Before Malkin and Wheeler could even get comfortable in the penalty box, Tom Sestito and Chris Thorburn got into a fight of their own.
With those four away, the two teams were able to settle down and play some hockey _ at least for a bit.
Shawn Matthias opened the scoring for the Jets at 4:18 of the first when he converted a two-on-one with Adam Lowry to put the Jets up, 1-0.
The Penguins responded less than a minute later when a quick shot by Nick Bonino seemed to catch Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck by surprise and got past him. Bonino's 10th goal of the season tied the score, 1-1, at 4:43 of the first.
The Jets had a goal disallowed for goalie interference midway through the period, but got one that counted just a few seconds later as Nikolaj Ehlers rang a shot in off the crossbar that beat Penguins goalie Matt Murray.
That's when Malkin transitioned out of his "enforcer" role and into one of the most dominant offensive players in the game. Just a few minutes out of the penalty box, he picked up a breakaway goal at 11:56 of the first period off a feed from Phil Kessel. His 30th goal of the season _ marking the fifth time he hit that plateau _ tied the score at 2.
While Malkin returned to scoring goals after his stint in the penalty box, Sestito resumed his role as the physical threat on the Penguins' roster _ perhaps to a fault.
Sestito hit Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom from behind at 13:10 of the first, sending Enstrom collapsing to the ice. A minor scrum ensued, but it didn't take long for the referees to intervene and send Sestito to the locker room with a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Enstrom did not return to the game.
The Jets answered back three minutes later when Dustin Byfuglien beat Murray on a rebound to put Winnipeg up 3-2 heading into the first intermission.
When the Penguins came onto the ice for the second period, though, they appeared to put the extracurricular activities aside and, as coach Mike Sullivan often likes to say, "played their game."
Justin Schultz, Nick Bonino and Malkin all scored within a minute of each other midway through the second period, with Schultz and Bonino's goals coming on the power play. Malkin also picked up an assist on Schultz's goal, giving him a fight, a goal, and an assist for the "Gordie Howe hat trick."
It marked the first time a Penguins player has recorded one since Brendan Morrow did so in 2013.
Late in the second period, Bonino netted this third goal of the night, and a few hats rained down from the Penguins fans in attendance at the MTS Centre to celebrate a more traditional type of hat trick. It was the second of Bonino's career, with the first coming in 2013 when he played for Anaheim.
The win moves the Penguins back into a tie with Columbus for second place in the Metropolitan Division. They will continue their Western Canada road trip Friday in Edmonton, the first leg of a back-to-back that also includes a Saturday game in Vancouver.
