(My Sportsbook) - The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to be without the services of Sidney Crosby, but Evgeni Malkin is doing his best to offset the loss of the superstar center.

Malkin will attempt to keep up his recent torrid scoring pace when he and the Penguins entertain the Florida Panthers tonight at Mellon Arena.

The reigning Calder Trophy winner had a goal and an assist to help Pittsburgh snap a two-game losing streak with Sunday's 4-1 road victory over Buffalo. Petr Sykora also scored once and assisted on another for the Penguins, who also received a 36-save performance from goaltender Ty Conklin.

Malkin has racked up 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists) during an eight-game scoring streak and has notched a goal in five consecutive contests. The 21- year-old Russian's 77 points on the season is just one short of Washington's Alexander Ovechkin for the NHL lead.

Since January 3, Malkin has amassed 19 goals and 17 assists in 21 games and registered at least one point in all but two of those tests.

Pittsburgh has now won four of its last six outings and is just two points behind first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic Division standings.

Florida enters tonight's matchup in fourth place in the tightly-bunched Southeast Division but is just four points in back of Carolina for the top spot. The Panthers missed out on a chance to close the gap, however, when they were edged by the Hurricanes Saturday in Raleigh.

Carolina stormed back from a two-goal deficit by scoring three times in the final 14 1/2 minutes to rally for a 5-4 victory. Ray Whitney netted the tie- breaking tally with 4:21 remaining as the Hurricanes dealt Florida its third defeat in four games.

Nathan Horton had a pair of goals for the Panthers and Stephen Weiss chipped in two assists before exiting the contest with an injured left hand.

Weiss, who has recorded an assist in his last four games, is expected to miss this evening's tilt.

Pittsburgh will likely be without center Erik Christensen (shoulder) for a third straight game, while Crosby continues to miss time with a high ankle sprain that has kept the All-Star out of the lineup since January 18.

The Penguins have won 10 of their last 13 at home and hope to maintain that level of success at the Igloo, where the club has gone 17-10-3 so far this season.

Pittsburgh has also posted victories in four straight meetings with the Panthers, including a pair of earlier encounters in 2007-08. Florida has been shut out in each of its last two visits to Mellon Arena, but had won seven in a row in the Steel City prior to those setbacks.