Pittsburgh Penguins @ Winnipeg Jets 4-3 SO - 11/06

The Pittsburgh Penguins brought all sorts of star power, but it was their third line that grabbed the Penguins' sixth win in a row. Brandon Sutter and Steve Downie scored to give Pittsburgh a two-goal lead before Sidney Crosby scored the deciding goal in the shootout to defeat the Winnipeg Jets 4-3. Winnipeg's three-game winning streak ended, but the Jets have at least a point in their past seven games. The Jets had a power play in the final 2:30 of regulation and ended overtime on another power play but could not score against a Pittsburgh penalty kill that has killed 34 consecutive power plays. Pittsburgh's Simon Despres scored his first goal of the season, and Sutter had three points to tie his career high. Jets captain Andrew Ladd, Jacob Trouba and Evander Kane scored. Marc-Andre Fleury, who signed a four-year, $23 million contract extension Wednesday, stopped 34 shots. Ladd's goal broke Fleury's shutout streak at 164:22, a career high for the 29-year-old. Ondrej Pavelec made 32 saves for the Jets. Pavelec was 4-0-1 with one shutout, a 1.15 goals-against average and .955 save percentage in his prior five starts. Winnipeg managed to hold off the NHL's best power play on five opportunities, including 28 seconds of 5-on-3 play. Pittsburgh began the game ranked first in the NHL at 41.3 percent and 42.9 percent on the road. The Penguins scored power-play goals in their past five games (11-for-24) before Thursday. For the most part, the Jets avoided the temptation of trying to trade chances with an opponent averaging four goals per game. The Jets took a 1-0 lead 9:36 into the game on Ladd's sixth goal when he redirected a shot from Bryan Little that trickled through Fleury's pads. Winnipeg has scored first eight times this season, and Ladd has four of those goals.
Pittsburgh answered 1:40 later when Despres scored from the right point past Pavelec's glove. The Penguins took their first lead of the game when Sutter grabbed a loose puck at center ice and raced into the Jets zone before beating Pavelec with a low shot 6:50 into the second period. Downie made it 3-1 late in the second period when he won a race to a puck dumped into the Winnipeg zone and then beat Pavelec with a move for his second goal of the season at 17:04. The Jets began their comeback against an opponent allowing 2.17 goals per game. Trouba scored to move Winnipeg within 3-2 with 1:32 left in the second period. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Trouba took a right-circle shot that beat Fleury to the far side of the net. Kane finished a breakaway 3:55 into the third period for his first goal of the season and 100th NHL goal. The game provided the Penguins with an opportunity to test themselves in a surly, physical game that had 102 penalty minutes and three fights.

Pens Quotes

Brandon Sutter: "You can't rely on the same guys all of the time. Other guys have to step up. We managed to get some offense from our bottom-six forwards, and that's always big. To come away with that, get a couple of blocks from guys and … manage to get into the shootout, that's a good test for us, and that's a big builder."
Sidney Crosby: "The crowd was loud and into it, and being on the road and getting a character win like that is a big win. I thought we handled it well. I think that they wanted to come out hard and play well in front of their crowd. They were fired up, and we knew that, so we responded well."
Mike Johnston: "You knew that they were going to come out and really try to test us. We want to face different types of opposition, and I compliment Winnipeg on how they played. They played a very good game. They were physical, but they also carried their speed through the game, and they really tested us in a lot of areas. So it was a big challenge for us, and we expect that we're going to get other teams' best when we come in."

Opposition View

Evander Kane: "We wanted to come out and prove that we could play with the best of the best. It was a very emotional game. It was fun to play in. It was old-school hockey, and it's definitely something that you enjoy, and it's the reason you want to play the game."
Andrew Ladd: "Something that we have been working on is sticking with our game plan and not getting into run-and-gun."
Blake Wheeler: "I think it's encouraging the way we didn't give up. It went to 3-1, and it was looking like a tough mountain. It was a hard-earned point."
Paul Maurice: "It was another one where we were ready to play from the start. We played hard, made some mistakes, forced some mistakes. Everybody in [the dressing room] is tired, and they should be. If you're playing a hard game, if you're finishing checks and playing a hard game, that frustration is going to be built into the games that you're playing. We're not in there talking about [getting opponents] off their game. It's all about establishing our own game."

Penalties

1st Period
15:57 PIT	Robert Bortuzzo  Fighting (maj) against  Blake Wheeler
15:57 WPG	Blake Wheeler  Fighting (maj) against  Robert Bortuzzo
18:12 WPG	Chris Thorburn  Too many men/ice - bench
2nd Period
02:11 PIT	Kris Letang  Holding against  Evander Kane
08:06 PIT	Marc-Andre Fleury  Slashing against  Mark Scheifele
08:06 WPG	Mark Scheifele  Slashing against  Marc-Andre Fleury
08:06 PIT	Simon Despres  Unsportsmanlike conduct against  Evander Kane
08:06 PIT	Simon Despres  Fighting (maj) against  Evander Kane
08:06 WPG	Evander Kane  Unsportsmanlike conduct against  Simon Despres
08:06 WPG	Evander Kane  Fighting (maj) against  Simon Despres
09:21 WPG	Grant Clitsome  Interference against  Steve Downie
10:53 WPG	Michael Frolik  Hooking against  Evgeni Malkin
14:57 WPG	Zach Bogosian  Roughing against  Blake Comeau
14:57 PIT	Blake Comeau  Interference against  Toby Enstrom
14:57 PIT	Blake Comeau  Roughing against  Zach Bogosian
17:04 PIT	Steve Downie  Roughing against  Dustin Byfuglien
17:04 WPG	Dustin Byfuglien  Cross checking against  Steve Downie
3rd Period
00:20 PIT	Steve Downie  Misconduct (10 min)
00:20 WPG	Dustin Byfuglien  Misconduct (10 min)
04:58 PIT	Rob Scuderi  Slashing against  Mathieu Perreault
04:58 WPG	Mathieu Perreault  Slashing against  Rob Scuderi
04:58 PIT	Steve Downie  Misconduct (10 min)
09:45 WPG	Jacob Trouba  Roughing against  Zach Sill
09:45 WPG	Jacob Trouba  Roughing against  Zach Sill
09:45 PIT	Zach Sill  Interference on goalkeeper against  Ondrej Pavelec
12:29 PIT	Craig Adams  Fighting (maj) against  Adam Lowry
12:29 WPG	Adam Lowry  Fighting (maj) against  Craig Adams
15:07 WPG	Mathieu Perreault  Cross checking against  Simon Despres
17:30 PIT	Nick Spaling  Hooking against  Toby Enstrom
OT Period
03:54 PIT	Simon Despres  Tripping against  Mathieu Perreault