Carolina Hurricanes @ Penguins 2-3 - Sunday, April 02, 2017
The Pittsburgh Penguins moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena. Pittsburgh (48-19-11) is one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and five points behind the Washington Capitals in the division. The Capitals defeated the Blue Jackets 3-2.
The Penguins won a second straight game to end their three-game home losing streak (0-2-1). Carolina (35-29-14) is seven points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. It has lost two straight in regulation since earning a point in 13 straight games (9-0-4), which was a Hurricanes record. The Hurricanes lost 3-0 to the Dallas Stars on Saturday and have four games remaining. Jake Guentzel gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with his 13th goal, and first power-play goal in 37 games this season, at 11:28 of the first period. Chad Ruhwedel carried the puck down the near wall before passing above the crease to Guentzel, who tapped it into an open net backdoor. Ron Hainsey thought he scored a few minutes earlier, when he shot through Eddie Lack. The puck trickled over the goal line but not before a whistle blew to freeze it at 8:07. Jeff Skinner tied it 1-1 at 13:21. After Matt Murray stopped Elias Lindholm's wrist shot, Lindholm dove at his rebound before drifting below the goal line to tap a shot toward an open net. The shot deflected off Skinner's stick and in for his 33rd goal of the season.
Wilson put the Penguins ahead 2-1 at 7:50 of the second period. The goal was Wilson's eighth of the season. Conor Sheary made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 5:07 of the third and Faulk cut it to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 9:38.
Murray made 33 saves for Pittsburgh. Lack made 23 saves for Carolina. Murray (30-10-4) became the 13th rookie since the 1967-68 Expansion Era to win 30 games in a season.
* After stopping a shot from Carter Rowney, Lack attempted to pull the puck in to freeze it. Wilson darted to the crease and whacked a backhand shot through Lack while he attempted to corral the puck.
* After the Hurricanes were called for too many men, Patric Hornqvist set up Sheary's goal. Hornqvist held the puck while drifting back toward the goal before slipping a pass to Sheary, who roofed a shot over Lack.
"Points are important at this point of the year. I think we want to move up in our division and hopefully get home ice." Conor Sheary
"I didn't think we had a great start, but I thought the second half of the first period, we started to grab a hold of the momentum a little bit. I thought there were momentum swings on both sides throughout the course of the game." Mike Sullivan said
"[The Hurricanes] were playing a playoff-type of game. They played really well, I thought. I'm just glad we got the two points at the end of it." Murray said.
Murray made 33 saves for Pittsburgh. Lack made 23 saves for Carolina. Murray (30-10-4) became the 13th rookie since the 1967-68 Expansion Era to win 30 games in a season.
* After stopping a shot from Carter Rowney, Lack attempted to pull the puck in to freeze it. Wilson darted to the crease and whacked a backhand shot through Lack while he attempted to corral the puck.
* Lack temporarily kept the Penguins from taking a 2-1 lead by denying Tom Kuhnhackl early in the second period. Kuhnhackl spun off Matt Tennyson and charged to the left faceoff dot before taking a wrist shot. Lack cut off the angle to make the save at 5:01.
* Defenseman Ian Cole led Pittsburgh with three blocks and was one of six Penguins to have at least four hits.
* Lack made his first start since being stretchered off the ice against the Detroit Red Wings on March 27. He missed the following two games with a neck strain before backing up Cam Ward on Saturday. … Penguins forward Chris Kunitz did not play with a lower-body injury. Sullivan said the injury would be longer term. … Hainsey faced Carolina for the first time since the Hurricanes traded him to the Penguins on Feb. 23.
"Points are important at this point of the year. I think we want to move up in our division and hopefully get home ice." Conor Sheary
"I didn't think we had a great start, but I thought the second half of the first period, we started to grab a hold of the momentum a little bit. I thought there were momentum swings on both sides throughout the course of the game." Mike Sullivan said
"[The Hurricanes] were playing a playoff-type of game. They played really well, I thought. I'm just glad we got the two points at the end of it." Murray said.
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Penguins 1-4 - Tuesday, April 04, 2017
The Pittsburgh Penguins increased their lead for second place in the Metropolitan Division by defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 at PPG Paints Arena. Pittsburgh (49-19-11) is three points ahead of Columbus (49-22-8) and five points behind the Washington Capitals in the division. The Capitals defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1. The Penguins, Blue Jackets and Capitals each have three games remaining. Columbus has lost its past four games (0-3-1) and has scored fewer than three goals in six of its past seven. Carter Rowney gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 18:51 of the first period with his second goal of the season. Scott Wilson drove down the left wing before passing through Brandon Dubinsky to Rowney, who was battling Johnson above the crease. Rowney tipped it past Sergei Bobrovsky's glove for his second NHL goal.
Patric Hornqvist made it 2-0 with his 20th goal of the season. He one-timed a pass from Tom Kuhnhackl over Bobrovsky's glove at 9:26 of the second period. Brian Dumoulin extended the lead to 3-0 with his first goal of the season at 12:30 of the second period. It was upheld after Columbus used a coach's challenge saying Pittsburgh was offside. The goal, which ended his 150-game drought, was Dumoulin's first since Dec. 15, 2014. Jake Guentzel scored his third goal in three games since returning from a concussion to make it 4-0 33 seconds into the third period before Dubinsky cut it to 4-1 with a shorthanded goal at 10:20. Matt Murray made 38 saves for Pittsburgh. Bobrovsky made 23 saves for Columbus. He has lost his past three starts in regulation.
* Conor Sheary had a chance to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead with 7:53 remaining in the first period when Phil Kessel set him up with a cross-ice pass. Bobrovsky denied Sheary by falling forward to make a glove save.
* Kuhnhackl sped past defenseman Kyle Quincey down the near wall before slipping a pass under a diving Quincey and past Seth Jones' stick. Hornqvist charged toward the right post for the pass and shot past Bobrovksy.
* Kessel didn't score but was possibly Pittsburgh's most active offensive performer. He led the Penguins with eight shots, five more than defenseman Justin Schultz.
* Blue Jackets forward Oliver Bjorkstrand returned from an upper-body injury after missing six games. He had one shot in 14:12 of ice time. ... The Penguins were 31-6-4 at PPG Paints Arena this season. ... Wilson played his 100th NHL game. ... Penguins forwards Bryan Rust and Matt Cullen each left the game with an undisclosed injury. Sullivan said he would likely have an update on Wednesday.
"We know that [the division is] pretty tight and we're trying to make sure we're playing the right way down the stretch." Sidney Crosby said.
"We're just going to play. We're going to play our game. Teams are going to play against us and they're going to try to play their game. What I love about our players and our team is I know that we're brave. I know we play with courage. I know that we can play through things. This team has shown an ability to do that not only this year, but last year, most importantly, when the stakes were high at the most important time of the year. … Our focus is going to be on playing our game." Mike Sullivan said.
"Every point is huge right now. I'm not going to sugarcoat that." Murray said.
The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched second place in the Metropolitan Division with a 7-4 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. The win moved the Penguins (50-19-11) five points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who lost 5-4 to the Winnipeg Jets. Pittsburgh will have home-ice advantage against Columbus in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Penguins were 31-6-4 at PPG Paints Arena this season. Their final two games are on the road. Bonino had a goal and two assists, Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel, Josh Archibald, Conor Sheary, Patric Hornqvist and Matt Cullen scored, Sidney Crosby had two assists, and Matt Murray made 34 saves for the Penguins, who have won four straight. Stefan Noesen, John Moore, Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri scored, and Cory Schneider made 21 saves for the Devils (28-38-14). The Penguins and Devils combined for six goals in the second period.
Moore tied it 2-2 10 seconds into the period before Archibald scored at 2:09 and Sheary at 3:05 for a 4-2 lead. Hall scored a power-play goal at 5:34 to make it 4-3 before Hornqvist scored a power-play goal to give Pittsburgh a 5-3 lead at 7:45. Palmieri scored his 99th NHL goal at 18:36 to pull the Devils within 5-4.
"I just kind of knew he was there," Crosby said. "The play took a while to develop, so I had some time to see where everyone was."
* With the Penguins holding a 6-4 lead, Murray denied Hall on a breakaway attempt 10:02 into the third period.
* Noesen gave the Devils the lead in the first when his attempt from the slot was inadvertently banked over the goal line off the inside of the right pad of Murray by forward Carter Rowney.
* Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin had an assist, six hits and three blocked shots in 20:24 of ice time.
* Murray has won his past four starts, making 135 saves on 145 shots. ... Crosby has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past four games. ... Guentzel has a goal in four straight games and six points (four goals, two assists) in that span. ... Schneider has lost his past four games (0-3-1) and has allowed 16 goals. ... The Devils have allowed 12 shorthanded goals, most in the NHL.
"I think home ice is big for us. It's important because we've had success at home. Securing home ice is a great accomplishment for our team and we're encouraged by it."
"Any time you get contributions throughout your lineup it increases your chances of winning games and I think it's a sign of a real competitive hockey team. I thought [our young players] were really good. They brought energy once again for us. They're establishing a forecheck and scoring big goals."
"[Crosby] sees the game on another level. We sometimes marvel at what he does on a nightly basis but he's an elite player and he makes elite plays that most can't make. Most would not have seen that play but he has the vision, wherewithal and skill level to make that play. My reaction was no different than anyone else in the building." Mike Sullivan said.
"Any time you get contributions throughout your lineup it increases your chances of winning games and I think it's a sign of a real competitive hockey team. I thought [our young players] were really good. They brought energy once again for us. They're establishing a forecheck and scoring big goals."
"[Crosby] sees the game on another level. We sometimes marvel at what he does on a nightly basis but he's an elite player and he makes elite plays that most can't make. Most would not have seen that play but he has the vision, wherewithal and skill level to make that play. My reaction was no different than anyone else in the building." Mike Sullivan said.
"I actually knew [the puck] was coming. I saw [Crosby] look at me, or at least he knew I was there. I've actually gotten a couple of those from him this year, so you have to be prepared for that." Conor Sheary
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