Wednesday, 28 December 2016

NHL - Penguins - Round Up December 20-23, 2016

NY Rangers @ Penguins 2-7 - Tuesday, December 20, 2016

The Pittsburgh Penguins' scoring slump didn't last long. After Pittsburgh scored one goal in its past two games, seven players scored for the Penguins for the second time in December in a 7-2 win against the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena. Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel scored in the second period to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead. After Michael Grabner made it 3-2, Justin Schultz, Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist each got goals to make it 6-2 with 7:38 left in the third period. Nick Bonino scored with 10.9 seconds remaining to make it 7-2. Sidney Crosby scored his NHL-leading 22nd goal in 27 games. Seven Penguins also scored in a 7-0 win against the Coyotes on Dec. 12. Pittsburgh has scored 47 goals in 10 games (8-0-2) in December. Matt Murray, who is 13-2-1, made 26 saves for the Penguins. Antti Raanta made 40 saves for the Rangers. The Penguins (21-7-5) are tied with the Rangers (23-11-1) for first place in the Metropolitan Division, each with 47 points. Pittsburgh outshot New York 22-9 in the first period, but entered the intermission tied 1-1. After Kevin Klein was given a double-minor for a high stick on Carl Hagelin, Crosby gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Ian Cole took a slap shot from the point that Crosby deflected off Raanta's blocker and in 5:55 into the first. Rangers forward Matt Puempel tied it 1-1 with 3:01 left in the first. After killing a power play, the Penguins took a 2-1 lead on a goal from Malkin 4:43 into the second period. The goal was Malkin's second in as many games and 14th of the season. Kessel extended the lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal, his 11th of the season, 8:53 into the second. Grabner snuck his Rangers-leading 14th goal past Murray's blocker 1:52 into the third period to make it 3-2. Schultz scored his sixth goal in 11 games to extend Pittsburgh's lead to 4-2 before Rust scored his ninth goal 2:01 later. Hornqvist scored Pittsburgh's third power-play goal of the game to make it 6-2 with 7:38 remaining.
* After the puck was knocked off Malkin's stick, it slid to Chris Kunitz at the top of the left circle, where he sent a cross-ice pass back to Malkin. At the top of the right circle, Malkin dropped to one knee and shot past Raanta to give Pittsburgh a lead early in the second period.
"It's more fun if you score more goals, you know? The last two games, we scored one goal. It was a good game for everyone tonight. … Everything worked tonight. I'm glad we won against the Rangers. It's a battle. … The Rangers are a great team, but we were better tonight." Evgeni Malkin

"I thought it was one of our more complete games. I thought we came out with a lot of energy. We had a great start. I thought we grabbed momentum right from the very first shift." Mike Sullivan said.


Penguins @ Columbus Blue Jackets 1-7 - Thursday, December 22, 2016


Scott Hartnell scored his ninth NHL hat trick to help lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 7-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets (22-5-4) extended their Columbus-record win streak to 11 and are tied with the Chicago Blackhawks for the most points in the NHL with 48. Hartnell got his third goal at 6:24 of the third period to make it 7-1 and complete a span of four unanswered goals in 3:40, which included three scores in 51 seconds. Brandon Saad had a goal and an assist, and the Blue Jackets also got goals from Cam Atkinson, William Karlsson and Boone Jenner.
Image result for more cowbell
Scott Hartnell was told to give it more cowbell and responded with a hat-trick.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves and Columbus extended its point streak to 13 games (12-0-1). Sidney Crosby had his NHL-best 23rd goal at 2:39 of the first to give Pittsburgh (21-8-5) a 1-0 lead, but it was all Columbus after that and Hartnell, who hadn't scored in nine games, played a big part. He has eight goals for the season. The Penguins lost for the first time in regulation in 11 games (8-1-2). Columbus scored both goals in the second period for a 3-1 lead. Karlsson got his fifth at 10:15 to make it 2-1. Hartnell followed at 12:20 for a 3-1 lead with an unassisted goal that slipped by Matt Murray, who made 17 saves before being replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury after the sixth goal. The Penguins had outscored opponents 21-3 in the third period in December.
* Sam Gagner was being draped by Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin but still managed a one-handed pass to Karlsson from behind the net while he was falling. The goal gave Columbus a 2-1 lead.
* Atkinson's goal was his 199th NHL point (101-98) in 331 games. … Crosby has points in 11 straight games at Nationwide Arena. He has five goals and 15 points during the streak. In 18 games vs. the Blue Jackets he has 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists). … Gagner has 10 goals and 20 points in his past 20 games. … The Penguins had the first six shots on goal but Columbus had an 18-16 advantage after two periods and 28-26 for the game. … Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky won 10 of 13 faceoffs.
"The first period we were really good. The second period they carried the play a little bit more. Obviously in the third period they were much better."
"We made some mistakes. We were coming out with the right intentions but they got that quick goal and scored some goals from there. Unfortunately, we couldn't grab hold of the game from there." Crosby said.
"We got outplayed in the second. Having said that, we're still in the hockey game. We just couldn't play the game the right way in the third period and they broke it open." Mike Sullivan

New Jersey @ Penguins 1-4 - Friday, December 23, 2016

Sidney Crosby scored his NHL-leading 24th goal in 29 games to help the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins (22-8-5) recovered from a 7-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Crosby has scored in three straight games. Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 23 saves, is 9-5-4 after winning three of his past five starts (3-0-1).
Crosby scored in the first period before Eric Fehr extended Pittsburgh's lead to 2-0 in the second. Devils forward Kyle Palmieri and Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel each scored to end the second with Pittsburgh leading 3-1. Patric Hornqvist made it 4-1 with 7:55 left in the third period. The Devils (13-14-7) lost for the eighth time in nine games (1-7-1). They shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 on Thursday to end a seven-game losing streak. Cory Schneider made 35 saves after making 16 against the Flyers in New Jersey's first shutout of the season. Pittsburgh outshot New Jersey 10-2 in the first period and Crosby took advantage to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. After Adam Henrique was called for hooking, Justin Schultz sent a pass to Crosby at the top of the right circle. Crosby one-timed a slap shot over Schneider's glove with 9:00 remaining in the first. Fehr made it 2-0 at 4:13 of the second period. Matt Cullen shot into the crease and Jon Merrill attempted to clear the puck, but sent it off Fehr before it bounced past Schneider. Palmieri's goal was upheld to make it 2-1 with 6:36 remaining in the second after Pittsburgh challenged for goaltender interference.
Ruhwedel gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead with 38.2 seconds left in the second. It was his first NHL goal in 35 career games.
* After the Penguins' lead was cut in half earlier in the second period, Ruhwedel extended it back to two goals within its final minute. He took a wrist shot that snuck through a screen from Patric Hornqvist to flutter past Schneider for Pittsburgh's third goal.

"It's been awhile. It feels good to get that first one out of the way. … It gave us a little insurance." Chad Ruhwedel
"I'll give credit to our leadership group. I think we trust this group of players. They always respond the right way. They're a proud group and they have high expectations for one another and I think it starts there." Mike Sullivan said.
"That was a rough one last night. It was good we got to play right away. We didn't have to spend all Christmas thinking about it. … I thought the guys had a great night tonight." Fleury said.

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