When Jeff Skinner scored in overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PNC Arena, they cleared NHL .500 for the first time in two seasons under coach Bill Peters. Though a meaningful achievement, no one was ready to celebrate a 19-18-7 record. With a three-game winning streak and 6-2-2 in the past 10 games, there is a growing sense that the Hurricanes are developing the consistency that is the hallmark of good teams.
After letting a 2-0 first-period lead slip away, the Hurricanes took advantage of Evgeni Malkin's hooking penalty behind the Carolina net in overtime. Elias Lindholm got his third assist after Faulk passed from above the circles to him near the goal line. That created an outnumbered chance, allowing Lindholm to wrap the puck around Olli Maatta to Skinner at the right post. Malkin's penalty was against Jordan Staal, who was lugging the puck behind his net.
Eric Staal made it 1-0 with his ninth of the season at 3:52 of the second period after a blown Pittsburgh defensive assignment. Lindholm won the puck behind the net to Kris Versteeg, who made a short pass to Staal in front for a tap-in.
The Hurricanes made it 2-0 on a strange bounce. Versteeg's shot from the left circle deflected off Sidney Crosby's stick and hit the glass before bouncing off goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's back and into the net at 9:44.
The Penguins began to generate more chances in the second half of the period, and Kris Letang made it 2-1 with a shot from the right point at 10:29. Crosby won a draw to Maatta, who one-touched the puck to Letang for his fifth of the season.
Pittsburgh pressed hard for the tying goal in the third period and got it when Crosby centered to Chris Kunitz for a shot over Cam Ward's blocker at 6:02. Patric Hornqvist made the play possible by lunging from the neutral zone to keep the puck in the offensive zone and get it to Crosby behind the net.
Crosby missed on a few good scoring chances. In the first period, he had an open look from the left post but slipped the puck through the crease. He shot wide on a 2-on-1 in the second, then hit the post with a backhand on his knees in the third. Sullivan saw enough to shuffle his lines in search of the second goal.
Lindholm, with six points in the past three games, is hitting his stride after a slow start. He is among the young players the Hurricanes are counting on to put up points. Ward, who made 23 saves Tuesday, has won three straight; Jordan Staal had a goal and an assist in each of the previous three games; and Versteeg has 13 points in 18 games since being a healthy scratch on Dec. 5.
Pens Quotes
Mike Sullivan: "It's tough. You don't want to take a penalty at all, but especially when it's that far from the [Carolina] net. I thought Sidney was locked in. He and Kunitz were going and I decided to make a switch halfway through the game. I liked that they were good together."
No comments:
Post a Comment