(AP) -- Evgeni Malkin put Pittsburgh ahead for good by scoring twice in the third period of his first three-goal playoff performance and the Penguins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 7-4 Thursday night to open a two-game lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Sidney Crosby scored a record-tying sixth goal to start a playoff game, yet was upstaged by NHL regular-season scoring leader Malkin during an exceptional performance that also gave Malkin the playoff scoring lead 25-24 over Crosby.

Carolina had won five straight game 2s, including the first two rounds this spring after losing game 1 each time, but couldn't match Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux-era like run-and-gun offense despite rallying to tie three times. The Hurricanes will host game 3 on Saturday night.

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