Christian Ehrhoff’s late goal gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Consol Energy Center on Saturday. Sidney Crosby controlled the puck behind the net before spinning out of traffic and skating down the left boards. Crosby backhanded a pass to Ehrhoff alone in the right faceoff circle.
Ehrhoff froze before taking a slap shot that hit the back of the Ottawa net behind Craig Anderson with 1:50 remaining. Pittsburgh finished 2-1-0 on its three-game homestand. The loss extended Ottawa’s losing streak to five games. The Senators have lost four of the five games by one goal. Ottawa scored two unanswered goals while controlling most of the second period to gain a 2-1 lead after trailing following the first period. Evgeni Malkin, who had been called for roughing Chris Neil, exited the penalty box and collected the puck before skating past Karlsson into the Senators zone. Malkin brought the puck to his backhand before bringing it back to the left and taking a wrist shot while colliding with Anderson. The shot got through on a 4-on-4 for Malkin’s 13th goal at 4:17 of the first. Anderson remained huddled on the ice behind the crease for a few minutes while being attended to, but remained in the game. Senators forward David Legwand deflected a snap shot from Erik Karlsson past Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the game 1-1 at 1:13 of the second period with Ehrhoff in the penalty box for tripping. Mika Zibanejad scored a second goal to give the Senators a 2-1 lead. Bobby Ryan gathered the puck at the Ottawa blue line and charged into the Pittsburgh zone before passing to Zibanejad skating through the middle of the ice. Zibanejad fought off Penguins forward Andrew Ebbett before placing a snap shot through Fleury’s five-hole with 8:44 remaining in the period. Fleury made 12 saves in the second period, many coming on shots from directly in front of the net with bodies in the crease, to keep Pittsburgh’s deficit at one goal.The Penguins took advantage of Fleury’s effort by tying the game on their fourth power play of the game. Defenseman Olli Maatta took a wrist shot that was tipped by Brandon Sutter then Malkin in front of the net and behind Anderson with 2:13 left in the second. It was Malkin's second goal of the game, his team-leading 14th of the season. Forward Rob Klinkhammer, who the Penguins acquired from the Coyotes along with a conditional pick at the 2016 NHL Draft for defenseman Philip Samuelsson on Friday, drew a hooking call on Erik Condra that led to Sutter’s goal. Klinkhammer drew two penalties in the second period. Pittsburgh’s power play finished 1-for-4 without three of its regular top-unit players. Forward Patric Hornqvist (undisclosed), forward Chris Kunitz (fractured foot) and defenseman Kris Letang (lower body) did not play Saturday. The Penguins rebounded from a 3-0 loss at home to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Penguins coach Mike Johnston said the players were eager to put that performance behind them.
Pens Quotes
Christian Ehrhoff: “It was definitely a surprise [to have that much space]. Usually when you have that much time, you think too much. But I just knew where I wanted to put it and this time, it went right where I wanted it.”Evgeni Malkin: “I took a bad penalty. It was a very bad penalty. It was a great time by the team. They played good and tough, and after, I just stepped on the ice and I see [Bobby] Ryan missed the net and I know it’s a breakaway and I tried to stop when I went backhand to forehand. I tried to stop, but there was too much speed.”
Mike Johnston: “It’s always important to have a rebound game. We talked about that as a group. We talked about it with the media the other day. Following that game, I think everybody was anxious to. Let’s just get back at it, let’s play another one. And we didn’t feel that the Vancouver game was a good game for us as a team. I thought tonight was better. Certainly Ottawa, they have some depth in their lineup. They have a good quality team … It was going to be one of those games. It was going to be a one-goal game.”
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