Sunday, 11 December 2016

NHL - Penguins - Round Up December 01-07, 2016


Stars @ Penguins 2-6 - Thursday, December 01, 2016
A struggling Marc-Andre Fleury and surging Sidney Crosby had been going in opposite directions lately. Fleury made 33 saves for his first win in more than a month and Crosby scored his 16th goal in 18 games to help the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Dallas Stars 6-2 at PPG Paints Arena. It was Fleury's first win since Oct. 29. He was 0-3-2 allowing 22 goals in six appearances (five starts). With the score tied at 2-2 late in the second period, Crosby gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead by shooting off goalie Antti Niemi's back with 21.5 seconds remaining in the period. Crosby had three points (one goal, two assists). The Penguins (14-7-3) scored three goals in 1:33 to take a 6-2 lead. Conor Sheary scored with 3:38 remaining to make it 4-2 before Eric Fehr scored into an empty net to push it to 5-2 with 2:46 left and Nick Bonino scored to make it a four-goal lead with 2:05 remaining. The Penguins responded to a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Wednesday when they allowed the game-winning goal in the final 30 seconds. The Stars (9-10-6) fell to 3-7-4 on the road. Ian Cole sent a snap shot high past Niemi to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead 8:47 into the first period. Stars forward Devin Shore tied it 1-1 with 8:35 remaining in the first. Stephen Johns shot from the right circle off Patrick Eaves and Shore before it trickled by Fleury and over the goal line. Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead on a 5-on-3 goal from Patric Hornqvist 7:43 into the second period. Less than four minutes later, Jamie Benn sent a backhand shot wide of an open net, but Tyler Seguin answered with a power-play goal to tie the score 2-2 with 8:39 remaining in the second.

* After receiving a pass from Sheary behind the net, Crosby reached around the left post and shot off Niemi's glove and shoulder. Without allowing the puck to drop, Crosby batted it out of midair, off Niemi's back and in late in the second period.
* Spezza found Seguin along the goal line during a power play midway through the second period. Seguin took a sharp-angle snap shot that snuck inside the left post past a lunging Fleury for his eighth goal of the season.
"It's just not good enough. It's frustrating and we have to dig deep. We're not digging deep enough right now from our best players to everybody. We have to dig deeper, especially in those big moments, and find ways to win hockey games." Tyler Seguin


Detroit Red Wings @ Penguins 3-5 - Thursday, December 05, 2016

The Pittsburgh Penguins would rather have the lead entering the third period, but even when they don't, things have tended to go their way. The Penguins scored four third-period goals to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 at PPG Paints Arena. It was Pittsburgh's fifth comeback win when trailing after two periods this season. Trailing 3-1 entering the third period, Penguins forward Nick Bonino and defenseman Justin Schultz scored to tie it 3-3. Bonino shot through traffic from the top of the right circle to make it 3-2 at 2:05 before Schultz scored 4:23 later. Phil Kessel's second goal of the game gave Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead with 9:06 remaining. Matt Cullen was given credit for an empty-net goal as he was tripped heading to the net to make it 5-3 with 40.9 seconds to play. The Penguins (15-7-3) won consecutive games for the first time since defeating the San Jose Sharks Nov. 5 and Edmonton Oilers Nov. 8. The Red Wings (11-11-3) lost in regulation for the first time in six games. Henrik Zetterberg backhanded a shot off Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's left arm and into the net for his fifth goal of the season with 6:29 remaining in the first period. Seven seconds after a Penguins power play expired, Frans Nielsen gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead when he charged to the left circle and shot over Fleury's glove 8:00 into the second period. Three minutes later, Evgeni Malkin set up Kessel, who cut Detroit's lead to 2-1. Kessel one-timed a shot past goalie Jared Coreau, who made 32 saves in his NHL debut. Fleury made 28 saves for his second win in three days. Dylan Larkin gave Detroit a 3-1 lead on a one-timer with 1:46 remaining in the second.
* Penguins forward Scott Wilson sent a cross-ice pass through three Red Wings to Sidney Crosby in the right circle. Crosby dropped to one knee and took a wrist shot that seemed destined to sneak inside the right post, but Coreau slid to his left, smothered the shot and froze the puck 2:36 into the first period.
* Detroit placed forward Justin Abdelkader (MCL sprain) on injured reserve and forward Andreas Athanasiou (knee) on long-term injured reserve Saturday. … Penguins forward Chris Kunitz returned from a lower-body injury. Pittsburgh activated him from injured reserve and re-assigned forward Tom Sestito to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday.


"We preach to this team all the time that we have to be a team that can generate offense different ways. We can't just wait for a power play, or we can't just wait to get our chances off the rush."
"We obviously liked [Kessel's] game tonight. He was on the puck. He's a threat, you know? He's got such a great shot whether it's off the rush, underneath the hashmarks or as part of the cycle game." Sullivan said.
"You just have to stick with it in games like this. We did, and we got rewarded." Phil Kessel
"I thought we controlled the play for the majority of that game. … Some shifts it was like a power play when it was 5-on-5. Then we'd give them an odd-man rush or we'd turn the puck over. Just being able to clean that stuff up will certainly bode well for us going forward." Ian Cole






Ottawa Senators @ Penguins 5-8 - Monday, December 05, 2016

It's difficult to stand out when a team scores eight goals, but Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust did Monday. Rust scored his first NHL hat trick to help the Penguins defeat the Ottawa Senators 8-5 at PPG Paints Arena.
After Evgeni Malkin extended the Penguins' lead to 6-4 at 1:05 of the third period, Dion Phaneuf scored the Senators' third power-play goal to cut it to 6-5 at 6:17. Rust, who last scored a hat trick for Notre Dame in a 7-1 win against Alabama-Huntsville on Jan. 10, 2014, scored on a penalty shot for his second goal to make it 7-5 with 7:24 remaining before scoring a third time to push it to 8-5 with 2:28 remaining. Goalie Mike Condon replaced Craig Anderson, who made 36 saves on 43 shots, between Rust's third-period goals. Pittsburgh (16-7-3) has scored 19 goals in its past three games.
Ottawa (15-9-2) had won four consecutive road games since losing 3-1 to the Nashville Predators on Nov. 8. Trailing 4-2 midway through the second period, the Penguins scored three goals in 6:09 to take a 5-4 lead. Forward Matt Cullen scored a shorthanded goal with a backhanded shot on a breakaway to cut Ottawa's lead to 4-3 at 8:28. Phil Kessel tied it 4-4 with 5:47 remaining in the second and Justin Schultz scored 24 seconds later to give Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead.

* With the Penguins leading 5-4 early in the third period, Malkin extended the lead to two goals by splitting Stone and Borowiecki and backhanding a shot by Anderson.
"It was more about maybe just trying to change the mindset of the 18 skaters in front of [Fleury]. Sometimes when you get in those situations, you make that type of a change and maybe you can provide a spark for the group." Mike Sullivan
 

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