Evgeni Malkin crashes the net against Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun in the second period Tuesday. The young Russian scored the winning shootout goal as the Penguins toppled the Panthers 4-3.

PITTSBURGH — Mom and Pop Malkin are in town, and that could be a bad sign for the Pittsburgh Penguins' upcoming opponents.

Evgeni Malkin scored Pittsburgh's first goal and then decided the shootout for the Penguins, who rallied from two goals down in the third period and beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 Tuesday night for their seventh consecutive victory.

The winning streak is the Penguins' longest since they won eight in a row from Dec. 23, 2007, through Jan. 10, 2008.

Kris Letang and Malkin each got the puck past Tomas Vokoun as the Penguins won their second shootout in three days, following a 4-3 decision Sunday in Washington.

Sidney Crosby scored the tying goal and assisted on NHL scoring leader Malkin's 30th during Pittsburgh's ninth win in 11 home games.

The Penguins, with 78 points, moved one ahead of Florida and into sixth place in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff race after the two began the night tied for seventh. Florida and Carolina are tied with 77 points apiece.

"It's a big point this time of the year, but we had the opportunity to get two and you get greedy this time of the year," Panthers coach Peter DeBoer said.

Florida's Richard Zednik and Stephen Weiss each failed against goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the shootout, allowing Malkin to decide it. Malkin repeatedly shifted the puck on his stick as he skated down the edge of the slot, forcing Vokoun to commit by going down and allowing Malkin to slip the puck into the unguarded net.

"I did something different because I did not score the last time," said Malkin, who previously was 1-for-4 in shootouts. "I practiced my move a couple of times, and it worked good."

Florida, losing to the Penguins for the second time in six days, is 3-7 in shootouts. Pittsburgh is 6-4.

"The shootout is a lottery," said Vokoun, who lost despite making 47 saves. "(Letang) made a nice move on the first one and I kind of froze. I tried to throw a pokecheck at (Malkin), but he made a good play."

Malkin seems to make a lot of them when his parents visit the United States from Russia. They also were in Pittsburgh last season when Malkin made a big push — getting 15 points during a five-game stretch — to threaten Washington's Alex Ovechkin for the scoring title.

Ovechkin eventually won that race, but Malkin currently leads Ovechkin 95-85.