Evgeni Malkin has seen enough.

He would like it to stop.

And he did just everything he could to prevent it from happening again (even if he had a role in allowing it to actually happen again) on Saturday.

Far too often this season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have had wins seemingly locked up and sealed in the third period, only to find some staggeringly improbable avenue leading to squalid losses. From the crisp days of fall through the blustery nights of winter into the optimism of early spring, the Penguins have tallied plenty of entries in their loss column that were seemingly destined to go under the preceding field for wins.

Saturday looked like an easy victory against the hated Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena. Then it turned into a bewildering tie. And before it morphed into a wretched defeat, the Penguins’ superstar center altered things in a way only he and a few other luminaries are capable of.

Malkin’s steal and subsequent goal at 18:40 of the third period helped his team claim a come-from-ahead-then-come-from-a-neutral-position 4-3 victory that helped the Penguins establish a firmer hold in the Eastern Conference wild card standings.

More importantly, they just didn’t lose a game in a soul-crushing fashion, a much too common recurrence in 2022-23.

The Penguins staked a three-goal lead very early in the third period on Saturday, only to surrender three scores to the Capitals before Malkin’s late heroics.

“We need to play better (in the) third period, for sure,” Malkin said. “We lead, 3-0. Lots of drama in the third period.

“It’s a huge goal for me and two points for the team. We played good. But just a little bit lost momentum when they scored (a couple). We need to play better a little bit (in) the third period for sure. We know every point is huge.”

The two points accrued Saturday were sizeable in that they pulled the Penguins (36-27-10, 82 points) within a point of the New York Islanders (37-28-9, 83 points) for the top wild card position.

Saturday’s result also inflated the buffer they have over the Florida Panthers (36-30-7, 79 points) for the final wild card position. As for the Capitals (34-32-8, 76 points), the loss dealt a critical blow to their already moribund postseason aspirations.

“There (were) moments in the game where I thought we were really good,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. “There were moments in the game, not so much. I think the most important thing, especially this time of year, is that we walked away with two points.”

Unlikely sources provided the Penguins with the first two goals of the game.

Following a scoreless first period, Penguins forward Ryan Poehling found his sixth goal of the season – first since Jan. 28 – at 10:10 of the middle frame.

After Poehling forced Capitals defenseman John Carlson into a turnover at the left point of the Penguins’ zone, linemate Danton Heinen settled the puck in the high slot and fed a stretch pass to Poehling in the neutral zone, springing him on a rush into the Capitals’ zone. Fending off Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin, Poehling attacked the net from the right circle and lifted a clever wrister over the glove of goaltender Darcy Kuemper. Heinen had the lone assist.

“I just tried to use my speed and I knew that when you come that fast and pull the puck to the left, the goalie has to kind of react quick and slide,” Poehling said. “So I thought just putting the puck in on the right side would have given it a chance and it went in.”

Not to be outdone in terms of breaking through futility, Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel registered his first goal of the season (and first since April 23, 2022) at 12:17.

From his own right point, Penguins forward Mikael Granlund made a clever outlet pass by banking it off the near wall to the neutral zone, allowing Penguins forward Jason Zucker to chase it down and tap a forehand pass (with one hand on his stick) to the opposite wing. Surging past the center red line, Ruhwedel corralled the puck and gained entry to the offensive zone on the right wing. With Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk late in providing resistance, Ruhwedel ripped a wrister past Kuemper’s glove on the near side. Assists went to Zucker and Granlund.

“It was a goal-scorer’s goal,” Sullivan said. “I don’t know if Chad’s considered a goal scorer, but it was a goal-scorer’s goal.”

A certified goal scorer nearly got the Capitals on the scoreboard late in the second period.

After Penguins rookie defenseman P.O Joseph fumbled a puck at the right point of Washington’s zone, Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, merely the second-greatest goal scorer in NHL history behind the iconic Wayne Gretzky, broke free on a breakaway.

Attacking the net, Ovechkin over-exaggerated a wrist shot, then deked to the right. Goaltender Casey DeSmith slid to his belly on Ovechkin’s fake wrister but was able to extend his left skate — skate blade, really — just enough to deny Ovechkin’s true shot.

That display prompted fans to serenade DeSmith — who was regularly besmirched by local amateur general managers as recently as late January — with chants of “Cay-See! Cay-See!”

“I was kind of reading shot, considering how close the backchecker (Joseph) was,” DeSmith said. “He did a little pump fake there and got me down, but my leg was just long enough. I’m not very tall, but I had that one inch that I needed.”

A little luck led to a power-play score by forward Jake Guentzel only 27 seconds into the third period that seemed to victory.

While trying to maintain control of the puck to kill time, Capitals forward Tom Wilson dealt a pass from the Penguins’ zone back to the neutral zone but had it deflected by Penguins forward Rickard Rakell. Van Riemsdyk was unable to accept the puck and allowed Guentzel to claim possession, creating a breakaway. Gliding in from the right circle, Guentzel coolly snapped a wrister through Kuemper’s five hole for his team-best 32nd goal. The only assist was Rakell’s.

Then … the rest of the third period happened.

After the Penguins were gifted with a power-play opportunity at the 3:42 mark, Malkin nullified that by taking a roughing minor for socking Capitals forward Nic Dowd with a right cross only 38 seconds later.

During the ensuing four-on-four sequence, the Capitals took advantage of the open ice and scored their first goal at the 5:19 mark.

Circling around the neutral zone looking for a passing option, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang lost the puck at his own blue line, yielding possession to Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov. Circumnavigating his way behind the Penguins’ cage and drawing DeSmith out of position to the left of the crease, Kuznetsov dished a pass to the blue paint, where Wilson jabbed in an easy forehand shot for his ninth goal. Kuznetsov had the only assist.

Ovechkin got his 42nd goal of the season and his 822nd career score on a power-play opportunity at 13:18 of the final frame.

Following a faceoff win in the Penguins’ right circle by Capitals forward T.J. Oshie against Penguins forward Jeff Carter, Capitals defenseman John Carlson one-touched the puck from the right point to the top of the left circle, allowing Ovechkin to unleash a trident missile of a one-timer that slipped between DeSmith’s right arm and his torso on the near side. Carlson and former Erie Otters forward Dylan Strome collected assists.

Things were knotted up at 17:16 thanks to Strome’s 18th goal.

Off the rush, Strome took a pass and fired a wrister from the Penguins’ right circle that DeSmith kicked out. Corralling the ensuing rebound, former Penguins forward Conor Sheary chopped the puck with a backhander, but the puck ended up sliding to the opposite side of the crease where Strome was able to tuck an easy backhander into a mostly vacant cage. Sheary and linemate Nicolas Aube-Kubel tallied assists.

“(For) two periods, we play (in the) offensive zone,” Malkin said. “We try (to) pressure (with) two guys, three guys. But the third period, maybe we think we (have a) win and we start to think about (statistics). We give them so much ice.”

The Capitals wound up giving Malkin an opportunity to reclaim momentum and a win.

Lethargically lugging a puck through the neutral zone, Capitals forward Anthony Mantha allowed Malkin to swipe it off his stick and surge into the Washington zone with all the momentum of a comet. As Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary aborted a change at the benches and made a futile attempt to defend, Malkin strode in and fired a low wrister to the far side by the left-catching Kuemper’s blocker for his 25th goal. There were no assists.

“When I have a position like this, I always look low blocker first,” Malkin said. “It’s my best shot, I think. It’s hard (against) a goalie when he’s (left-handed). Usually, (against right-handers), I shoot lower glove. (Against left-handers), lower blocker. If I fake a little bit (to) the right side and shoot lower blocker, it’s (tough).

“Some goalies know that I shoot like this. A great shot. But I always try to shoot low blocker.”

DeSmith’s blocker and all of his other gear allowed him to stop 31 of 34 shots and elevate his record to 14-15-4 with an improbable win.

“Obviously, we would have cleaned up the third (period) a little bit, but that’s why you have star players,” DeSmith said. “(Malkin) made a huge play for us there. It’s more exciting for the fans that way, but I guess I would do without (losing a lead) next time.”

Malkin is hoping there isn’t a next time.

“We always win with forechecking one or two guys and then pressure and play more in the offensive zone,” he said. “It’s our game. We’re not waiting. … In my opinion, we need to play more aggressive the whole game.”

“I hope this is the last game we play like this.”

Notes:

• Ruhwedel’s most recent goal came during a 7-2 road win against the Detroit Red Wings on April 23.

• A light heavyweight bout took place at 17:03 of the second period when Penguins forward Josh Archibald (5-foot-10, 176 pounds) took on Sandin (5-foot-11, 182 pounds). The decision went convincingly to Archibald.

• DeSmith established a new career-high in games with 31 this season.

• After being sidelined for Thursday’s 3-2 road loss to the Dallas Stars due to an undisclosed injury, Tristan Jarry served as the Penguins’ backup on Saturday. That prompted the team to assign goaltender Dustin Tokarski, summoned from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions Thursday, back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

• The Penguins’ scratches were defensemen Jeff Petry (suspected head injury), Jan Rutta (undisclosed injury), forward Alex Nylander (healthy) and Tokarski.

• The Penguins drew their best crowd this season with 18,456. Their previous high-water mark was 18,427 against the Devils on Feb. 18.

Saturday saw them make a singificant rebound after they drew only 17,080 — their second-lowest figure of the season — in their most recent home game against the Seantors on Tuesday.

This was was their 16th sellout (out of 36 games) this season.

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