Evgeni Malkin scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, and the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Friday night in the 95th NHL game between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.

While all eyes were on Crosby and Ovechkin, Malkin set up Erik Karlsson’s goal 3:11 into the first and then scored the winner with 9:32 left. With 18 points, Malkin is the leading scorer for the Penguins, who won for the sixth time in 16 games this season after getting a goal from Michael Bunting assisted on by Karlsson and 32 saves from rookie Joel Blomqvist.

Noel Acciari, who swept the puck off the goal line to save a goal earlier, sealed it with an empty-netter with 22.9 seconds left.

Rasmus Sandin and Andrew Mangiapane scored for the Capitals, whose seven-game home winning streak came to an end. Charlie Lindgren made 28 saves, many of them spectacular, in a losing effort.

Karlsson responded to being called out by coach Mike Sullivan with two points in the first seven minutes. The three-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman might be past his prime at 34, but he can still flash some brilliance offensively.

For the Capitals, things had been going so well they were due a little regression, which came with a couple misses with the net wide open.

The Capitals went 0 for 3 on the power play, failing to score in more than five minutes of time. They’re 2 for their last 40 dating to Oct. 17.

MAPLE LEAFS 3, RED WINGS 1: Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist as host Toronto beat Detroit.

John Tavares scored twice, including an empty-netter with 1:30 to go, for the Maple Leafs. Morgan Rielly had two assists and Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves.

Marner has a goal and 10 assists as part of a seven-game point streak.

Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings, and Cam Talbot finished with 17 saves.

Toronto was without Auston Matthews after placing the star forward on injured reserve before the game. The three-time Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy winner as the NHL’s leading goal-scorer also sat out Tuesday’s 4-0 victory over the Boston Bruins.

KRAKEN 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, OT: Jared McCann’s goal at 29 seconds of overtime lifted host Seattle past Vegas, which tied the game 3-3 on a goal by Alex Pietrangelo at 18:38 of the third period.

KRAKEN ACQUIRE SPRONG FROM CANUCKS: The Seattle Kraken reacquired Daniel Sprong in a trade with their cross-border rivals, the Vancouver Canucks, sending future considerations back in return for the well-traveled forward.

Sprong, 27, had just three points and averaged under 12 minutes of ice time in nine games with Vancouver. He spent the end of the 2021-22 season and all of ’22-23 with Seattle before playing last year with Detroit.

The Kraken are looking for an offensive spark after losing nine of their first 14 games. Sprong had his best NHL season with them, setting career highs with 21 goals and 46 points and matching his best assist total with 25.

Sprong has also previously suited up for Pittsburgh, Anaheim and Washington since making his debut in the league in 2015. He has 165 points in 366 regular-season and playoff games.