PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins are Sidney Crosby's team, and they have been almost since the day he was drafted in 2005. Right now they're Evgeni Malkin's team, and there isn't much of a dropoff in scoring or playmaking even with Crosby injured.

Malkin scored a goal and set up two others during Pittsburgh's offensive breakout in the third period, and the Penguins turned another strong game by goaltender Ty Conklin into a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.

Petr Sykora had a goal and an assist as Pittsburgh scored on four of its first nine shots in the third after goalie Cam Ward stopped 18 shots in the first two periods.

"We kind of saved the best for last," said Erik Christensen, who got the Penguins going by scoring from the low slot in the opening minute of the third.

Malkin, surging offensively since Crosby injured his right ankle on Jan. 18, cut down the right wing boards and split between defensemen Bret Hedican and Tim Gleason to score his 28th goal and put the Penguins up 3-1 — their third goal in slightly more than nine minutes.

Nobody in their locker room is saying the Penguins don't miss Crosby. Still, not many teams have a center as good as Malkin to lead their top line when their biggest star is out.

"There's a lot of good players on this team, a lot of guys are getting a lot more ice time, and those are the guys have been waiting for a chance," Sykora said.