Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Evgeni Malkin had a goal and two assists as the Pittbrugh Penguins used a four-goal third period to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1, at Mellon Arena.

Petr Sykora had a goal and an assist while Ty Conklin stopped 27 shots for the Penguins, who have won two of their last three and remain one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Sergei Samsonov scored the lone goal while Cam Ward stopped 25 shots for the Hurricanes, who had won four of five coming into the game.

Trailing, 1-0, headed into the final 20 minutes of regulation, the Penguins exploded for four goals to wrap up the contest.

Just 37 seconds into the frame, Maxime Talbot flicked a pass from the left boards to the slot where Erik Christensen fired a one-timer past Ward.

The Penguins then grabbed the lead at the 7:26 mark of the third with a power- play goal. Malkin blasted a shot from the right point that Ward stopped, but Ryan Malone whacked at the rebound and the puck crossed the goal line before Ward was able to grab it. The play was initially ruled no goal, but a review showed that the puck had completely crossed the line.

Malkin then gave his team a two-goal lead with 10:18 to play as he split the defense and lifted a backhander into the net for his 28th goal of the season.

Sykora further padded the Penguins lead with a power-play goal as he backhanded the puck out of the air from the right side past Ward with 6:57 to play.

"First period, we didn't play well at all," noted Christensen. "We got an earful after the first. Once you get that first goal then the flood gates open and the rest is history."

Carolina got on the scoreboard just 8:27 into the first period as Samsonov swept a loose puck in the slot into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

Ward stopped eight shots in the first period to keep Pittsburgh off the board.

Neither side scored in the second period as Ward made 10 saves and Conklin stopped seven.

"They slowed the game quite a bit, and obviously, we want to be uptempo and going after teams," said Carolina forward Erik Cole. "There was a pretty big lull, and then they were controling the flow. We needed to go out and have a good start to the third and we didn't."