PITTSBURGH -- For the second game in a row, center Evgeni Malkin offered an assessment of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Just that quickly, he went from harsh to hopeful.

"We had a good start, played focused all 60 minutes," Malkin said Tuesday night after his two goals and two assists led the Penguins to a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild.

"We talked, and I think we changed momentum tonight and showed how we can play. It's still not perfect, but it's a little bit better, and I hope now we start to understand what's going on on the team and we support each other and we start winning."

Following a lackluster 4-0 loss Saturday at New Jersey, Malkin had implored his teammates to "look in the mirror" and play better. He said the players were "mad at each other," although he subsequently softened that stance, and Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said he was sure Malkin instead meant that players were frustrated.

The only thing frustrating about the win against Minnesota was the possible loss of defenseman Olli Maatta, who was taken to a hospital after he was hit from behind into the boards along the Wild bench by Minnesota right winger Nino Niederreiter at 10:09 of the second period.

Pittsburgh coach Mike Johnston did not have an update on Maatta, who had recently been paired with top defenseman Kris Letang as his game rounded into form following a 2014-15 season that was gutted by shoulder surgery and cancer surgery. Johnston, though, said, "It didn't look good."

"The issue I had with it was, why was the (players') gate open, and there was a push from behind," Johnston said.

Niderreiter was conciliatory.

"It's unfortunate, the whole situation," he said. "I pushed him, then I went for a change. I think he toe-picked at the same time and the door was open, and he obviously fell into the boards."

The Penguins, coming off of two losses in a row, also got goals from left winger David Perron and right winger Beau Bennett. Minnesota, which lost regulation for the first time in five games, got goals from centers Mikael Granlund and Mikko Koivu, and defenseman Jared Spurgeon.

It was just the third time the Penguins reached the four-goal level this season.

Minnesota came back from a 4-1 deficit and closed to within a goal during a five-on-three power play at 2:24 of the third period when Koivu scored on a one-timer from between the hash marks with left winger Thomas Vanek providing a screen. But Pittsburgh held on.

The Penguins opened the scoring when Perron, from near the left post, slid a rebound of a shot by Malkin behind goaltender Devan Dubnyk 1:12 into regulation.

Granlund tied it 1-1 at 12:57 of the first period when right winger Jason Pominville, in the left corner, fed him for a snap shot that sailed past the blocker of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Penguins, whose power play had been 0-for-13 over their previous three games and ranked last in the NHL coming into the game with a 12.3 percent success rate, got one shot and some boos from the home crowd on their first power play of this game. On their second, though, Malkin, from the right wall, set up Bennett in the near circle for a go-ahead goal, 2-1, at 17:01 of the first period.

Pittsburgh got another power-play goal at 8:15 of the second period for a 3-1 lead when Malkin whipped a shot from the top of the right circle just inside the near post. The goal withstood a review to see if right winger Patric Hornqvist had interfered with Dubnyk. It was the 100th power-play goal of Malkin's career.

Malkin said the Penguins tweaked their power play, moving the puck more.

"We scored a couple of goals. It worked," he said. "We need to still keep going, the same power play."

Malkin struck again at 11:11 of the second period for a 4-1 Pittsburgh lead. Right winger Phil Kessel pulled up along the left half-wall and fed Malkin, who pulled the puck between his legs as he moved down the slot, lifted a shot inside the right post.

A slap shot by Spurgeon gave the Wild a power-play goal at 16:23 of the second period and pulled the team within 4-2.

"They came out hard," Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. "We knew they were going to. They were all over us that first period. Then, we gave up a couple power-play goals. Then, we finally started to settle in, I thought. The third period, I thought we played well, but a little too late."

The win came just at the right time for Pittsburgh, thanks in large part to Malkin heeding his own words.

"I'm not surprised at all," Crosby said of Malkin's response. "I think that everybody really wanted to bounce back and make sure that what happened in Jersey doesn't happen anymore. The way he played showed that."

NOTES: Minnesota C Erik Haula is ill and did not travel with the club to Pittsburgh. Coach Mike Yeo said Haula's status for the fourth and final game of the road trip, Thursday at Boston, is unclear. Yeo said the Wild did not want Haula potentially spreading his illness by being around his teammates. ... The Wild also scratched D Christian Folin. ... LW Michael Keranen became the third player in Minnesota's past five games to make his NHL debut. ... Three Pittsburgh forwards who missed practice Monday -- RWs Patric Hornqvist and Daniel Sprong and C Matt Cullen -- played. Sprong and Cullen were ill Monday. Hornqvist left Saturday's game at New Jersey because of an undisclosed injury. D Rob Scuderi and C Nick Bonino, who also missed practice Monday, were scratched in favor of D Adam Clendening, who played in just his second game of the season, and LW Sergei Plotnikov.