Washington Capitals @ Penguins 4-7 - Friday, February 02, 2018
Evgeni Malkin had two goals and two assists for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 7-4 win against the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena.
"It's great tonight," said Malkin, who has 10 points in his past three games (seven goals, three assists). "We played quick. We used our legs. We understand each other… We enjoy playing. We are having fun right now. We understand we have four great lines."
Phil Kessel scored twice; Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist and Bryan Rusteach had a goal; and Matt Murray made 29 saves for Pittsburgh (29-21-3), which has won four straight and is 9-2-0 in its past 11 games.
"This weekend, we have some big games," Kessel said. "We started off pretty good."
Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist, and Braden Holtby made 27 saves on 33 shots for Washington (30-16-5), which has lost four of its past six games (2-2-2).
"I thought we had some stretches where we were fine," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "I thought we were pretty resilient. We were chasing the game and got it tied up. At the end of the day, we just gave them a few too many odd-man rushes and we lost the special teams war."
Pittsburgh was 3-for-4 on the power play; Washington was 0-for-3.
"We made two turnovers in the first period and they score," Ovechkin said. "We come back. It was a tight game, 3-3. They scored another one and we tied the game again. We gave them opportunities to score and we didn't [score]. We'll take it and go forward."
Kessel made it 6-4 when he shot short side over Holtby's glove at 7:59 of the third period. Following the goal, Holtby was pulled and replaced by Philipp Grubauer, who made five saves on six shots. Malkin scored his second on the power play to give the Penguins a 7-4 lead at 10:00 of the third period.
* Rust's goal at 6:08 of the third period.* Murray's save on Chandler Stephenson at 13:17 of the first period.* Kessel's goal at 7:59 of the third period.* Hornqvist sustained a lower-body injury colliding with Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik at 2:37 of the third period. Sullivan said Hornqvist would not travel with the Penguins to New Jersey. … Pittsburgh forward Conor Sheary did not play with a lower-body injury and is listed as week to week. Rust, who has three goals in his past two games, played on the first line at right wing in his absence. … Ovechkin has 10 points in his past seven games (five goals, five assists).
"I thought it was a good game. I thought it was two good teams going at it. They made some good plays when they scored. So, it's tough to keep them off the board… I just thought it was a real good hockey game. There were offensive chances at both ends of the rink. We'd like to do a better job, I think, of limiting a handful of them." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"Got behind. Battled back over the course of two periods there. We were able to find some offense, but couldn't play defense today." -- Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen
Phil Kessel scored twice; Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist and Bryan Rusteach had a goal; and Matt Murray made 29 saves for Pittsburgh (29-21-3), which has won four straight and is 9-2-0 in its past 11 games.
"This weekend, we have some big games," Kessel said. "We started off pretty good."
Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist, and Braden Holtby made 27 saves on 33 shots for Washington (30-16-5), which has lost four of its past six games (2-2-2).
"I thought we had some stretches where we were fine," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "I thought we were pretty resilient. We were chasing the game and got it tied up. At the end of the day, we just gave them a few too many odd-man rushes and we lost the special teams war."
Pittsburgh was 3-for-4 on the power play; Washington was 0-for-3.
Kessel made it 6-4 when he shot short side over Holtby's glove at 7:59 of the third period. Following the goal, Holtby was pulled and replaced by Philipp Grubauer, who made five saves on six shots. Malkin scored his second on the power play to give the Penguins a 7-4 lead at 10:00 of the third period.
* Rust's goal at 6:08 of the third period.* Murray's save on Chandler Stephenson at 13:17 of the first period.* Kessel's goal at 7:59 of the third period.* Hornqvist sustained a lower-body injury colliding with Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik at 2:37 of the third period. Sullivan said Hornqvist would not travel with the Penguins to New Jersey. … Pittsburgh forward Conor Sheary did not play with a lower-body injury and is listed as week to week. Rust, who has three goals in his past two games, played on the first line at right wing in his absence. … Ovechkin has 10 points in his past seven games (five goals, five assists)."I thought it was a good game. I thought it was two good teams going at it. They made some good plays when they scored. So, it's tough to keep them off the board… I just thought it was a real good hockey game. There were offensive chances at both ends of the rink. We'd like to do a better job, I think, of limiting a handful of them." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan"Got behind. Battled back over the course of two periods there. We were able to find some offense, but couldn't play defense today." -- Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen
Penguins @ New Jersey 1-3 - Saturday, February 03, 2018
Travis Zajac had two goals and an assist for the New Jersey Devils in a 3-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Prudential Center. Blake Coleman had a goal and an assist, Stefan Noesen had two assists, and Keith Kinkaid made 15 saves for the Devils (27-16-8), who won their third straight game and outshot the Penguins 38-16.
"Those guys work hard," Zajac said of Coleman and Noesen. "I'm just trying to keep up with their speed and tenacity. As a line, we're not going to score every night, but we need to generate chances and make sure we're tough to play against. If we can do that, we'll help the team."
Evgeni Malkin scored, and Casey DeSmith made 35 saves for the Penguins (29-22-3), who had a four-game winning streak end. They defeated the Washington Capitals 7-4 on Friday and are 5-5-2 in the second game of back-to-backs this season. Penguins forward Sidney Crosby did not have a point for the first time in 12 games. He scored what would have been his 400th NHL goal 12:54 into the third period but it was waved off for goalie interference by Bryan Rust.
"I think we got outworked," Crosby said. "They seemed to be more desperate; that was definitely the case in the first two periods. We came out a little harder in the third, but we didn't win battles. You get a big win and you've got to be able to turn the page, and emotionally we weren't ready."
The line of Noesen, Zajac and Coleman combined for 12 shots, six hits, five takeaways and seven points. Zajac won 56 percent of his faceoffs (10 of 18).
"[Travis'] line was our motor, they got us going," Devils center Brian Boyle said. "We played well as a whole, but they made the difference when we needed it most. Scoring one goal in this league is hard, and he got two, so good for Travis because we appreciate everything he does for us."
"Travis is an unbelievable two-way player," Noesen said. "He's shutting down Sidney Crosby, and any guy who can do that, and put up three points, I want him on my team. He stood up for Kyle Palmieri when he fought Radko Gudas (in a 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers in the previous game).
"Truthfully, it's been an honor to play with him; he's been lights out."
Coleman gave the Devils a 2-0 lead 3:05 into the second period off a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle that beat DeSmith over his left shoulder. Zajac scored his first goal in 10 games off a scramble in the slot 30 seconds into the period for a 1-0 lead.
"I think as a line we were in sync tonight and [Coleman and Noesen] were really good on the forecheck, turning pucks over," Zajac said. "They worked up and down the ice and we got rewarded for it."
Malkin scored his eighth goal in four games after taking a pass from Ian Cole down the slot and scoring off his backhand at 6:16 of the third period to pull the Penguins within 2-1.
"When you don't play committed, don't play hard, you're not going to win," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "They wanted it more. They won every loose-puck battle, were quicker with their second man to the puck battles. For whatever reason, we didn't have any jump. We didn't have our legs and we deserved to lose."
* Coleman's goal at 3:05 of the second period.* Kinkaid's save against Zachary Aston-Reese at 3:08 of the first period.* Zajac's goal at 9:51 of the third period.* New Jersey moved past Pittsburgh into second place in the Metropolitan Division and has three games in hand. … Kinkaid, in his fourth season, won his NHL career-high 10th game (10-4-2). … Aston-Reese played 6:24 and was minus-1 in his NHL debut on a line with Carter Rowney and Ryan Reaves. ... The Penguins scratched forward Patric Hornqvist (lower body). There is no timetable for his return but the injury isn't expected to be long-term. ... Devils forward Taylor Hall had an assist on the last goal to extend his point streak to 10 games (six goals, nine assists).
"The [Devils] are young, they have energy. They are hungry. They are quick. They are everything we thought they would be. We knew it would be a hard game and they would play hard. They play a north-south game with speed and we were not prepared to play." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"[Zajac] plays tough minutes; he wants to contribute offensively, but every night he's there, and we're not in games a lot of the time without the thankless things that he does against top guys. This is a great league and he's got to play against those guys every night. You need to build teams around guys like Travis Zajac because he does so many things well." -- Devils center Brian Boyle
Evgeni Malkin scored, and Casey DeSmith made 35 saves for the Penguins (29-22-3), who had a four-game winning streak end. They defeated the Washington Capitals 7-4 on Friday and are 5-5-2 in the second game of back-to-backs this season. Penguins forward Sidney Crosby did not have a point for the first time in 12 games. He scored what would have been his 400th NHL goal 12:54 into the third period but it was waved off for goalie interference by Bryan Rust.
"I think we got outworked," Crosby said. "They seemed to be more desperate; that was definitely the case in the first two periods. We came out a little harder in the third, but we didn't win battles. You get a big win and you've got to be able to turn the page, and emotionally we weren't ready."
The line of Noesen, Zajac and Coleman combined for 12 shots, six hits, five takeaways and seven points. Zajac won 56 percent of his faceoffs (10 of 18).
"[Travis'] line was our motor, they got us going," Devils center Brian Boyle said. "We played well as a whole, but they made the difference when we needed it most. Scoring one goal in this league is hard, and he got two, so good for Travis because we appreciate everything he does for us."
"Truthfully, it's been an honor to play with him; he's been lights out."
Coleman gave the Devils a 2-0 lead 3:05 into the second period off a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle that beat DeSmith over his left shoulder. Zajac scored his first goal in 10 games off a scramble in the slot 30 seconds into the period for a 1-0 lead.
"I think as a line we were in sync tonight and [Coleman and Noesen] were really good on the forecheck, turning pucks over," Zajac said. "They worked up and down the ice and we got rewarded for it."
Malkin scored his eighth goal in four games after taking a pass from Ian Cole down the slot and scoring off his backhand at 6:16 of the third period to pull the Penguins within 2-1.
"When you don't play committed, don't play hard, you're not going to win," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "They wanted it more. They won every loose-puck battle, were quicker with their second man to the puck battles. For whatever reason, we didn't have any jump. We didn't have our legs and we deserved to lose."
* Coleman's goal at 3:05 of the second period.* Kinkaid's save against Zachary Aston-Reese at 3:08 of the first period.* Zajac's goal at 9:51 of the third period.* New Jersey moved past Pittsburgh into second place in the Metropolitan Division and has three games in hand. … Kinkaid, in his fourth season, won his NHL career-high 10th game (10-4-2). … Aston-Reese played 6:24 and was minus-1 in his NHL debut on a line with Carter Rowney and Ryan Reaves. ... The Penguins scratched forward Patric Hornqvist (lower body). There is no timetable for his return but the injury isn't expected to be long-term. ... Devils forward Taylor Hall had an assist on the last goal to extend his point streak to 10 games (six goals, nine assists)."The [Devils] are young, they have energy. They are hungry. They are quick. They are everything we thought they would be. We knew it would be a hard game and they would play hard. They play a north-south game with speed and we were not prepared to play." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan "[Zajac] plays tough minutes; he wants to contribute offensively, but every night he's there, and we're not in games a lot of the time without the thankless things that he does against top guys. This is a great league and he's got to play against those guys every night. You need to build teams around guys like Travis Zajac because he does so many things well." -- Devils center Brian Boyle
Vegas Golden Knights @ Penguins 4-5 - Tuesday, February 06, 2018
The Pittsburgh Penguins scored five straight goals to spoil Marc-Andre Fleury's return to PPG Paints Arena with a 5-4 win against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Fleury made 33 saves for Vegas (35-14-4) in his second game against his former team; he made 24 saves in a 2-1 win against Pittsburgh (30-22-3) on Dec. 14.
"I didn't know what to expect. In the warm-up, I had goose bumps," Fleury said. "It's a night I won't forget. … It was very, just weird. The game was here, so it was different. But it was a game I'll remember forever."
Matt Murray made 21 saves for the Penguins, who have won five of their past six games.
"It was what I think everybody expected it to be," Murray said. "It was an emotional, pretty free-flowing game. They're a really good team. They're tough to play against. We had to give it our best to get the two points."
"Good for us to climb back in it there," Crosby said. "It wasn't looking good for a while when we were down a couple. So, a big second [period] followed with a big third."
Ryan Carpenter stopped the flurry with a wrist shot that cut it to 5-3 at 6:38. Jonathan Marchessault made it 5-4 at 12:04. After Malkin was called for slashing Deryk Engelland at 1:07 of the first, William Karlsson ended his five-game goal drought on the power play to give Vegas a 1-0 lead at 2:09.
"It's a tough loss," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "We played a real good 30 minutes, and then we sort of backed off. That's why they're the Stanley Cup champs. They can create good plays. I thought the first 30 we played real well.
"We didn't skate, we didn't work hard enough and our gaps were bad. When you give the room to make plays in the neutral zone, with their speed, they're going to attack you. I thought we backed off too much and gave them too many odd-man rushes."
* Malkin's goal at 3:09 of the third period.
* Murray against Karlsson on a breakaway at 7:31 of the second period.* Kessel's goal at 6:20 of the third period.* The Penguins honored Fleury with a video tribute during the first television timeout. Following the video, the crowd chanted Fleury's last name as he raised his stick. … The Golden Knights lost after scoring first for the second time this season (22-2-0). … Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist missed a second straight game with a lower-body injury. After initially saying he didn't anticipate Hornqvist to be out long-term, Sullivan said he would be week to week on Monday. … Penguins forwards Carter Rowney and Tom Kuhnhackl did not play after the first period because of lower-body injuries. Sullivan said he would have more information later.
"[Fleury is] just a great person. Obviously a great player, but a great person. As you see, the city loves him. We certainly love him here. We're happy to have him. … We should have just had a better effort for him tonight. Played great again. Gives us a chance to win every single night." -- Golden Knights forward James Neal
"I thought both goaltenders did a terrific job. I think it was every bit as emotional for Matt Murray as it was for [Fleury]. I thought both of them handled themselves extremely well, as they always do. They're two really good pros. They're two really good people. And I thought they did a great job." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
Matt Murray made 21 saves for the Penguins, who have won five of their past six games.
"It was what I think everybody expected it to be," Murray said. "It was an emotional, pretty free-flowing game. They're a really good team. They're tough to play against. We had to give it our best to get the two points."
Ryan Carpenter stopped the flurry with a wrist shot that cut it to 5-3 at 6:38. Jonathan Marchessault made it 5-4 at 12:04. After Malkin was called for slashing Deryk Engelland at 1:07 of the first, William Karlsson ended his five-game goal drought on the power play to give Vegas a 1-0 lead at 2:09.
"It's a tough loss," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "We played a real good 30 minutes, and then we sort of backed off. That's why they're the Stanley Cup champs. They can create good plays. I thought the first 30 we played real well.
"We didn't skate, we didn't work hard enough and our gaps were bad. When you give the room to make plays in the neutral zone, with their speed, they're going to attack you. I thought we backed off too much and gave them too many odd-man rushes."
* Malkin's goal at 3:09 of the third period.
* Murray against Karlsson on a breakaway at 7:31 of the second period.* Kessel's goal at 6:20 of the third period.* The Penguins honored Fleury with a video tribute during the first television timeout. Following the video, the crowd chanted Fleury's last name as he raised his stick. … The Golden Knights lost after scoring first for the second time this season (22-2-0). … Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist missed a second straight game with a lower-body injury. After initially saying he didn't anticipate Hornqvist to be out long-term, Sullivan said he would be week to week on Monday. … Penguins forwards Carter Rowney and Tom Kuhnhackl did not play after the first period because of lower-body injuries. Sullivan said he would have more information later.
"[Fleury is] just a great person. Obviously a great player, but a great person. As you see, the city loves him. We certainly love him here. We're happy to have him. … We should have just had a better effort for him tonight. Played great again. Gives us a chance to win every single night." -- Golden Knights forward James Neal"I thought both goaltenders did a terrific job. I think it was every bit as emotional for Matt Murray as it was for [Fleury]. I thought both of them handled themselves extremely well, as they always do. They're two really good pros. They're two really good people. And I thought they did a great job." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
Penguins @ Dallas Stars 3-4 SO - Friday, February 09, 2018
Kari Lehtonen made 34 saves for the Dallas Stars in a 4-3 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at American Airlines Center. Tyler Seguin, John Klingberg and Dan Hamhuis scored, and Jamie Benn had three assists for the Stars (33-19-4), who have won five games in a row and hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
The Stars arrived in Dallas at 3:30 a.m. local time after a 2-1 win at the Chicago Blackhawks.
"I felt today, whatever happened today we we're going to learn some valuable lessons," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We learned a lot about ourselves today and we learned a lot about how deep we can dig, and we dug deep tonight to get two points."
Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz tied the game 3-3 with 1:13 remaining after the Stars scored three straight goals, including two in the third period, to take the lead. Riley Sheahan and Carl Hagelin scored, and Matt Murray made 33 saves for the Penguins (30-22-4), who lost for the second time in seven games (5-1-1) and are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, five points behind the Washington Capitals.
"It's a good team over there, they're going to fight back, and they were able to get a couple goals in the third," Schultz said. "Would've liked to be a little more tight defensively. But it happens, and we got that tying goal which is huge for us. We'll take the point, we would've liked two, but any point now is big."
Seguin scored the only goal of the shootout in the top of the second round.
Evgeni Malkin missed the net on Pittsburgh's first attempt, and Sidney Crosby hit the crossbar in the second round before Lehtonen made a save on Phil Kessel in the third to seal the win for Dallas.
Sheahan gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 9:07 of the first period when he beat Lehtonen between the legs on a breakaway.
Hagelin scored a shorthanded goal at 4-on-3 to make it 2-0 at 10:54 when he forced a turnover, skated past Klingberg, and beat Lehtonen with a wrist shot.
"His foot speed is his biggest strength. He wins foot races," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "That's one of the reasons that he's an effective penalty-killer, is his ability to chase people down and put them under pressure."
Seguin cut the Penguins lead to 2-1 with 2:03 left in the first when he finished off a pass from Benn. Rookie defenseman Dillon Heatherington got his first NHL assist.
* Lehtonen stopping Malkin at 16:05 of the third period.* Hagelin's goal at 10:54 of the first period.* It was the first win of the season for the Stars when trailing entering the third period (1-14-1) and the first loss for the Penguins when leading entering the third (17-0-1). … Crosby has not scored in 10 games but has 13 assists in that span. ... Dallas center Martin Hanzal was out with a lower-body injury. He has missed at least one game because of injury seven times this season. … The Stars trail the St. Louis Blues by one point for third place in the Central Division.
"Obviously, we're disappointed we give up two early in the third there, but I liked the fight. We stayed with it and we get the game tied up. It was a hard-fought game. They're a good team. It was one of those games that had a playoff-type feel. There wasn't a lot of ice out there." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"[Radek] Faksa did a job. That line has done a job for two months now, but Radek did a heck of a job. That was a big load for that line, I mean, first of all, most of the shifts you're not going to have the puck, and you're going to have to check and you're going to have to be really determined and you're going to have to play through really big bodies." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock on keeping Penguins center Sidney Crosby off the score sheet
"I felt today, whatever happened today we we're going to learn some valuable lessons," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We learned a lot about ourselves today and we learned a lot about how deep we can dig, and we dug deep tonight to get two points."
Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz tied the game 3-3 with 1:13 remaining after the Stars scored three straight goals, including two in the third period, to take the lead. Riley Sheahan and Carl Hagelin scored, and Matt Murray made 33 saves for the Penguins (30-22-4), who lost for the second time in seven games (5-1-1) and are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, five points behind the Washington Capitals.
"It's a good team over there, they're going to fight back, and they were able to get a couple goals in the third," Schultz said. "Would've liked to be a little more tight defensively. But it happens, and we got that tying goal which is huge for us. We'll take the point, we would've liked two, but any point now is big."
Seguin scored the only goal of the shootout in the top of the second round.
Evgeni Malkin missed the net on Pittsburgh's first attempt, and Sidney Crosby hit the crossbar in the second round before Lehtonen made a save on Phil Kessel in the third to seal the win for Dallas.
Hagelin scored a shorthanded goal at 4-on-3 to make it 2-0 at 10:54 when he forced a turnover, skated past Klingberg, and beat Lehtonen with a wrist shot.
"His foot speed is his biggest strength. He wins foot races," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "That's one of the reasons that he's an effective penalty-killer, is his ability to chase people down and put them under pressure."
Seguin cut the Penguins lead to 2-1 with 2:03 left in the first when he finished off a pass from Benn. Rookie defenseman Dillon Heatherington got his first NHL assist.
"Obviously, we're disappointed we give up two early in the third there, but I liked the fight. We stayed with it and we get the game tied up. It was a hard-fought game. They're a good team. It was one of those games that had a playoff-type feel. There wasn't a lot of ice out there." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"[Radek] Faksa did a job. That line has done a job for two months now, but Radek did a heck of a job. That was a big load for that line, I mean, first of all, most of the shifts you're not going to have the puck, and you're going to have to check and you're going to have to be really determined and you're going to have to play through really big bodies." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock on keeping Penguins center Sidney Crosby off the score sheet
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