No one made the Tampa Bay Lightning’s defense look as amateurish as Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin did after scoring a hat trick and an assist.

His greatest goal came after another defensive breakdown in which Malkin used his speed, hands and size to skate through all five of of Tampa’s players on the ice and finish with a nice wrist shot through Dwayne Roloson’s legs. It was his second goal of three goals that night, but this one displayed how truly great he is at maneuvering the puck all over the ice and finishing with a goal.

The hat trick on Saturday was Malkin’s 3rd of the season and 9th of his career. He is absolutely tearing Tampa Bay up this season, scoring 2 of his hat tricks against both Dwayne Roloson and Mathieu Garon. His 4 points last night puts him at 36 goals and 41 assists for 77 points in 54 games this season.

The Penguins rallied to defeat the Lightning 8-1 as 11 Penguins chipped in either a goal or an assist. Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury finished with a .971 save percentage by stopping 34 of 35 shots.

New Jersey Devils winger Ilya Kovalchuk recorded the first Gordie Howe hat trick of his NHL career yesterday after scoring a goal, an assist, and knocking out Philadelphia Flyers rookie Brayden Schenn.

Tensions rose in the third period after the Devils established a 4-point lead over the Flyers. A scrum ensued when Zac Rinaldo of the Flyers slew footed Zach Parise after the whistle and surprisingly, the fight that emerged from the scrum was between Kovalchuk and Schenn. Kovalchuk had only fought 8 other times during his career and Schenn is still trying to find his feet as a 20-year-old rookie in the NHL who already suffered a concussion in December.

It didn’t look like Schenn knew what he got himself into when Kovalchuk unexpectedly swung him around the ice like a dancing rubber chicken. Just as Schenn was regaining his balance, Kovalchuk caught him right in the jaw with a right hook that sent him to the ground. Four players from each team were penalized after the scrum and the Devils hung on to beat the Flyers 6-4.

Kovalchuk now has 47 points in 46 games with 21 goals and 26 assists. After the fight, he has 23 total penalty minutes but still has to work on getting rid of the -9 in the plus/minus category.

The only thing more beautiful than a monstrous hip check in hockey that neutralizes the puck carrier attempting to avoid hits up the middle is a well placed open ice hit. Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik greeted Boston Bruins forward Daniel Paille with a first class ticket to the moon with this hit last night:

Paille was sent flying about 10 feet at center ice and got right back up after the hit without retaliation. These days, it’s good to see a solid, clean hit not result in injury or fights and cheap shots. Orpik has a tendency to lay some humongous hits on the opposition but Paille is also a hard working skater who’s durability makes him excellent on the third line and penalty kill.

Orpik has racked up 158 hits and only 28 penalty minutes this season. The Penguins used that momentum to their advantage and defeated the Bruins 2-1 with goals from Evgeni Malkin and Matt Cooke.

A war of fisticuffs broke out during the Bakersfield Condors vs. Ontario Reign game on January 28, 2012. It all started with a huge hit on Ontario’s Kevin Estrada from Bakersfield’s Ian McKenzie and it ended with a pathetic goalie fight in which Bakersfield goaltender, Bryan Pitton, took swings but refused to take off his helmet.

The game ended with Reign winning 5-1, but not before 14 players had been ejected and 278 total penalty minutes were amassed. It was actually the anniversary of a previous brawl on January 28, 2011, which set a previous team record of 254 penalty minutes when the Condors fought the Alaska Aces.

If you missed the 2012 NHL All-Star Game and the Skills Competition in Ottawa, here’s a little rewind with highlights and all.

First, Patrick Kane revealed his true superpowers as he flew (or glided on his belly) over the ice and even shattered a puck into four pieces.

The ice almost caught fire from Zdeno Chara’s slap shots when he went up against Shea Weber another year in the Hardest Shot Competition. Not only did his 108.8 MPH shot break the record which he set last year, it broke the end boards and the sound barrier.

Daniel Alfredsson put the team on his back one shift and played tic-tac-toe with the Sedins another shift to score two goals. The New Swedish Express line saw some great passes and goals between Alfie and the twins, especially when #33 passed to #22 who passed to #11 and scored a goal.

Tim Thomas looked through the back of his head to make a blind glove save all while performing a triple axle.

Scott Hartnell pledged to donate $1,000 to charity for every time he fell down, so teammate Claude Giroux attempted to trip him up and loosen his wallet.

Speaking of Scotty, he became the third of the Sedin triplets on Sunday when he took part in tic-tac pass and goal with Daniel and Henrik, then exclaimed “Suck it, Phaneuf!”

Finally, All-Star MVP, Marian Gaborik, scored a game high 4 points and recorded the only hat trick to lead Team Chara with a 12-9 victory over Team Alfredsson.

This must have been one of the better All-Star Games in years past. Everyone had fun and even though the hitting aspect is taken out of the game to let the players relax and avoid injury, it was still 100x more worthwhile than the Pro Bowl.