There is a recurring theme when Patric Hornqvist plays the Anaheim Ducks. He gets bounces. The puck finds the net more often. Even Hornqvist chalks up his success against the Ducks to being fortunate. Hornqvist scored two goals and goalie Thomas Greiss made 27 saves to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-2 victory against Anaheim at Honda Center on Friday. Hornqvist, who tormented Anaheim when he was with the Nashville Predators, has 10 goals in 21 career games against the Ducks. He scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season during a three-goal second period by the Penguins (37-18-9), who began the California portion of a four-game trip with a win against the best team in the Western Conference. Greiss got his first career win (1-3-2) against Anaheim; the Penguins will go for back-to-back wins with goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. Pittsburgh knew it was important to respond after the loss to Colorado. The Penguins swept the season series against Anaheim. The Ducks (42-18-7) did little offensively until a late surge that produced Tomas Fleischmann's first goal as a Duck and Corey Perry's 28th goal. Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen allowed four goals on 20 shots. The loss ended Anaheim's four-game winning streak. Hornqvist tipped in Ian Cole's point shot for a power-play goal at 18:57 of the second period. The goal came four seconds after the expiration of a slashing penalty to Ducks defenseman Simon Despres, playing his first game against his former Penguins teammates. Hornqvist's first goal of the night and 20th of the season came on a clever bank shot off Andersen from the right side of the net at 11:53. Hornqvist now has five 20-goal seasons. Blake Comeau began the scoring by beating Andersen with a 50-foot slap shot to the glove side at 9:51 of the second. Andersen twice had the puck take strange caroms off the boards and nearly go into his net on a night of odd bounces for both teams. He was credited with three giveaways. Evgeni Malkin took a shot that went off Andersen and trickled into the net at 2:03 of the third for a 4-0 lead. After the goals by Fleischmann and Perry cut the Ducks' deficit to two, Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau pulled Andersen in the final minutes, but Sidney Crosby hit the empty net with 11 seconds remaining for his 21st of the season. The Ducks went 0-for-3 on the power play and are scoreless in their past 17 power plays at home. Their last goal with the man advantage in Anaheim was Feb. 3. This is related to injured defenseman Sami Vatanen, the quarterback on their power play who has been out since Feb. 18. Anaheim has gone 1-for-13 in his absence. Boudreau also pointed to the lack of power plays. The Ducks' three power plays were as many as they had in their four previous games combined. Pittsburgh defenseman Ben Lovejoy made his first appearance at Honda Center since he was traded for Despres on Monday. He said he got a little emotional during the ride to the arena from his former home.
Pens Quotes
Patric Hornqvist: "Puck luck in front of the net. I try to go there and it seems like I get opportunities to score against Anaheim. It's just luck. It means a lot, at least on the road. We didn't play good against [the] Colorado [Avalanche, a 3-1 loss on Wednesday], and then we come with a big win here. A good team effort. We know we can beat anyone. Now we just have to get hot."Mike Johnston: "You always like the way your team rebounds. If they're in a situation where you haven't played your best game, to come out and play a better game, especially against a top team, that's a good sign for our group."
Ben Lovejoy: "The driver was a bit weirded out. I felt like I got it out then and was able to come in with so much energy and adrenaline. It was so fun to be a part of. I'm so glad my new team won. This was such a special place for me. I was so proud to be a Duck. I'm lucky that my new team is very good and a group that I'm very comfortable with and hopefully can fit right back in with."
No comments:
Post a Comment