Pens @ Washington Capitals 3-2 - Wednesday, October 11, 2017
The Penguins scored three times on the power play, and Matt Murray made 20 saves in a 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.
Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist and Conor Sheary scored for the Penguins (2-1-1).
Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading eighth goal to get the Capitals within 3-2 with 7:09 left in the third period. Washington killed two of three penalties in the first period, but Letang made it 1-0 at 5:22 when he flipped a bouncing puck over Capitals goalie Braden Holtby's shoulder from outside the crease.
The Penguins made it 2-0 at 8:20 of the second period on a goal by Hornqvist, who scored in his first game back after offseason surgery on his right hand. He also had an assist on Letang's goal.
"Some plays around the walls and timing a little bit, but obviously what can you do?" Hornqvist said of playing after the layoff. "You have to play games to get better, and it was good to get the win and it was fun to be back out there."
"That's huge against that team every time," Murray said. "And then our power play was really good too. I think that's key against a team like that. Especially tonight, I thought there was a lot of special teams, not a whole lot of 5-on-5. We did a really good job."
Capitals defenseman Christian Djoos scored in his NHL debut with 53 seconds left in the second period to make it 2-1. Sheary poked in a rebound 38 seconds into the third period to make it 3-1. Djoos, a seventh-round pick (No. 195) in the 2012 NHL Draft, had an assist on Ovechkin's goal. Holtby made 33 saves for Washington (2-1-1).
"The thing with Christian is, we know that he's a good hockey player," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "He's going to have to continue to get stronger and continue to play at this level. You can see the instincts are really good. He's got a real good sense for the game. His IQ is really good. But it's a process. It's one game, and we'll be patient."
Goal of the game
In a game filled of greasy goals around the net, Letang's skill stood out. A bouncing puck caromed off Hornqvist and Penguins forward Bryan Rust in front, and Letang got it at the right post and deftly lifted it.
Holtby made a pad save on a wrist shot from Penguins forward Carl Hagelin alone in the slot. That shorthanded attempt would have extended Pittsburgh's lead to 4-1.
Holtby saw the speedy Hagelin racing up ice with no Capitals defenseman anywhere close. The goalie charged out of his net, was beaten to the puck by Hagelin, yet managed to make a play on it at the blueline. Holtby fell on the loose puck and covered it with his glove, which resulted in a delay of game penalty 10:33 into the first period.
They said it
"He brings so much to this team. He plays with so much swagger. He's just a great competitor. When he's on the bench, he brings juice to our bench. You hear him chirping all the time. He's just awesome to have around. And it's contagious. It's contagious with our group." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on the return of forward Patric Hornqvist
Need to know
Ovechkin's eight goals in four games tops his previous best of five goals in the first four games of a season (2014-15, 2013-14, 2009-10).
Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading eighth goal to get the Capitals within 3-2 with 7:09 left in the third period. Washington killed two of three penalties in the first period, but Letang made it 1-0 at 5:22 when he flipped a bouncing puck over Capitals goalie Braden Holtby's shoulder from outside the crease.
The Penguins made it 2-0 at 8:20 of the second period on a goal by Hornqvist, who scored in his first game back after offseason surgery on his right hand. He also had an assist on Letang's goal.
"Some plays around the walls and timing a little bit, but obviously what can you do?" Hornqvist said of playing after the layoff. "You have to play games to get better, and it was good to get the win and it was fun to be back out there."
"That's huge against that team every time," Murray said. "And then our power play was really good too. I think that's key against a team like that. Especially tonight, I thought there was a lot of special teams, not a whole lot of 5-on-5. We did a really good job."
Capitals defenseman Christian Djoos scored in his NHL debut with 53 seconds left in the second period to make it 2-1. Sheary poked in a rebound 38 seconds into the third period to make it 3-1. Djoos, a seventh-round pick (No. 195) in the 2012 NHL Draft, had an assist on Ovechkin's goal. Holtby made 33 saves for Washington (2-1-1).
"The thing with Christian is, we know that he's a good hockey player," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "He's going to have to continue to get stronger and continue to play at this level. You can see the instincts are really good. He's got a real good sense for the game. His IQ is really good. But it's a process. It's one game, and we'll be patient."
Goal of the gameIn a game filled of greasy goals around the net, Letang's skill stood out. A bouncing puck caromed off Hornqvist and Penguins forward Bryan Rust in front, and Letang got it at the right post and deftly lifted it.
They said it
"He brings so much to this team. He plays with so much swagger. He's just a great competitor. When he's on the bench, he brings juice to our bench. You hear him chirping all the time. He's just awesome to have around. And it's contagious. It's contagious with our group." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on the return of forward Patric Hornqvist
Need to know
Ovechkin's eight goals in four games tops his previous best of five goals in the first four games of a season (2014-15, 2013-14, 2009-10).
Pens @ Tampa Bay Lightning 4-5 - Thursday, October 12, 2017
Steven Stamkos scored his first goal in almost a year, and Slater Koekkoek scored the first two goals of his NHL career to help the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 at Amalie Arena. Stamkos' goal, his first since Nov. 15, came on a power play and gave the Lightning a 3-1 lead at 3:49 of the second period. The center missed 65 games last season with a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee.
"I knew it was a matter of time, so I wasn't losing any sleep over it," Stamkos said. "I'm just happy to be playing hockey again and glad to be part of some wins here. I thought we came out strong against [the Washington Capitals, a 4-3 overtime win Monday] and followed that up for the most part. That's two good teams that have come in here and we've gotten two wins, so we'll look to build on that."
Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov scored for the Lightning (3-1-0), and Alex Killorn had four assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves. Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (2-2-1). Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick scored, and Antti Niemi made 29 saves. Koekkoek finished a 3-on-1 in front of the net by slipping a backhand past Niemi to give the Lightning a 5-3 lead with 2:05 left in the second period.
Hunwick made it 5-4 when he scored on the rebound of a shot by Greg McKegg at 10:01 of the third period. Sheary made it 3-2 at 8:58 of the second period when he broke into the zone off a pass from Chad Ruhwedel and beat Vasilevskiy with a wrist shot high on the stick side. Kucherov gave the Lightning a 4-2 lead at 9:49, and Rust scored a power-play goal at 14:24 on the rebound of a shot by Guentzel to make it 4-3. Koekkoek's first NHL goal gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 6:07 of the first period. His slap shot from the point hit the stick of Penguins forward Tom Kuhnhackl and trickled past Niemi. The 23-year-old defenseman was playing his 43rd NHL game.
"We let them get out of range a couple of times, especially when they went up 5-3, I think that was a bit of a dagger for us," Sheary said. "We fought hard, especially in the third, had a lot of scoring chances, unfortunately we weren't able to put another one in."
* Kucherov took a feed from defenseman Braydon Coburn and his wrist shot from above the left circle beat Niemi over his glove to the far post.
* Vasilevskiy denied Guentzel when he tried to go to the five-hole on a breakaway with 7:24 remaining in the third period.
* Hedman's goal was a slap shot from center point that came off a rebound after his first shot was blocked. He beat Niemi to the glove side.
"We tried hard to play a more disciplined game in a game that wasn't. We don't want to be a team that trades chance for chance because you can't control your destiny if you play that way. We have to be more of a team that controls territory, that controls the momentum, that has more of a defensive conscience in mind so that we have a better opportunity to control the outcome." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"These are good teams, so anytime you can beat a good team it's going to give you confidence, especially to respond the way we have after that tough effort [against the Florida Panthers, a 5-4 loss Saturday]. We've responded well and now we'll continue to work to get better." -- Lightning captain Steven Stamkos
The last Lightning player to have four assists was Johnson (Oct. 28, 2014 against the Coyotes). … Stamkos scored his 112th power-play goal to tie Vincent Lecavalier for the most in Lightning history. … Penguins center Sidney Crosby had nine shot attempts, six on goal, but did not have a point for the second time in his past 17 games against the Lightning. … Lightning forward Chris Kunitz, playing in his first game against the Penguins since leaving them as a free agent this offseason, was plus-1 with an assist in 10:52 of ice time.
Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov scored for the Lightning (3-1-0), and Alex Killorn had four assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves. Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (2-2-1). Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick scored, and Antti Niemi made 29 saves. Koekkoek finished a 3-on-1 in front of the net by slipping a backhand past Niemi to give the Lightning a 5-3 lead with 2:05 left in the second period.
"We let them get out of range a couple of times, especially when they went up 5-3, I think that was a bit of a dagger for us," Sheary said. "We fought hard, especially in the third, had a lot of scoring chances, unfortunately we weren't able to put another one in."
* Kucherov took a feed from defenseman Braydon Coburn and his wrist shot from above the left circle beat Niemi over his glove to the far post.
* Vasilevskiy denied Guentzel when he tried to go to the five-hole on a breakaway with 7:24 remaining in the third period.
* Hedman's goal was a slap shot from center point that came off a rebound after his first shot was blocked. He beat Niemi to the glove side.
"We tried hard to play a more disciplined game in a game that wasn't. We don't want to be a team that trades chance for chance because you can't control your destiny if you play that way. We have to be more of a team that controls territory, that controls the momentum, that has more of a defensive conscience in mind so that we have a better opportunity to control the outcome." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan"These are good teams, so anytime you can beat a good team it's going to give you confidence, especially to respond the way we have after that tough effort [against the Florida Panthers, a 5-4 loss Saturday]. We've responded well and now we'll continue to work to get better." -- Lightning captain Steven Stamkos
The last Lightning player to have four assists was Johnson (Oct. 28, 2014 against the Coyotes). … Stamkos scored his 112th power-play goal to tie Vincent Lecavalier for the most in Lightning history. … Penguins center Sidney Crosby had nine shot attempts, six on goal, but did not have a point for the second time in his past 17 games against the Lightning. … Lightning forward Chris Kunitz, playing in his first game against the Penguins since leaving them as a free agent this offseason, was plus-1 with an assist in 10:52 of ice time.
Florida Panthers @ Pens 3-4 - Saturday, October 14, 2017
When it comes to Sidney Crosby, nothing surprises Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. That was the case again, when Crosby scored twice on sharp-angle deflections and helped the Penguins defeat the Florida Panthers 4-3 at PPG Paints Arena.
"It doesn't surprise me because I see him do it all the time," Sullivan said. "I think he's the best in the game in and around that net, in close. … He's in the battle areas all the time."
After Patric Hornqvist gave Pittsburgh its third one-goal lead of the game with 6:24 remaining in the second period, Crosby parked himself along the goal line and deflected a shot from Kris Letang through goalie James Reimer to make it 4-2 at 1:59 of the third. He used a similar deflection during a power play on a shot from Phil Kessel to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 6:46 of the first period.
"We had some really good looks," said Crosby, the Penguins' captain. "We had three 2-on-1s, at least, tonight. Sometimes you go two, three games without getting a 2-on-1. … We did some pretty good things on them. We executed well."
Crosby tied Conor Sheary for the Penguins lead in goals (three) and Bryan Rust for the lead in points (eight). Pittsburgh (3-2-1) is 8-0-2 in its past 10 games against Florida (2-2-0). That is its longest stretch without a regulation loss in the series. Penguins goalie Matt Murray made 43 saves. Reimer made 29 for the Panthers. Crosby seemed to score his second goal earlier, when Hornqvist leaped through Reimer and backhanded a pass through the crease, setting up Crosby for what would have been an easy goal with 3:25 remaining in the second period. It was disallowed when Hornqvist was called for goalie interference.
Florida and Pittsburgh combined for three goals in 3:05 during the first half of the second. After Jonathan Huberdeau scored his first of two goals to tie it 1-1 at 5:25, Greg McKegg gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal, his first goal with the Penguins, at 6:40. Huberdeau scored again to tie it 2-2 at 8:30. Huberdeau's second goal was upheld after the Penguins challenged for goaltender interference.
"It's a tough game," Huberdeau said. "They're a good team, especially at home. In the third period, we kind of played well. We had a lot of chances. We missed some chances too. I think it could've gone either way, but it happens. We just have to go to the next one."
Panthers forward Colton Sceviour left after taking a hit from Hornqvist with 2:05 remaining in the third. An update was not provided following the game.
* Sheary made an unheralded play to help facilitate Crosby's second goal when he tipped a cross-ice pass from Evgenii Dadonov that would have sent Huberdeau out of Florida's zone. The puck bounced to Letang, leading to Crosby's deflection.
* Less than two minutes after Ekblad cut Pittsburgh's lead to one, Florida had two chances to tie it but was denied by Murray each time. Murray stopped a wrist shot from Dadonov at 8:56 before kicking away a rebound attempt from Connor Brickley three seconds later.* Huberdeau established himself around Pittsburgh's crease while Keith Yandle took a slap shot that sent Murray sprawling in his crease. The rebound came to Dadonov, who carried it above the paint before Huberdeau took the puck off his tape and scored on a wrist shot past Murray for his second goal.
"I thought it was a good effort. They kind of shot the puck from everywhere. I don't think we gave them a huge amount of really good chances. I think they just kind of shot the puck from everywhere." -- Penguins goalie Matt Murray"I think we've got to figure it out that when we get into these games, you've got to give teams like this respect, but you've got to come in here and you've got to expect to get a point or two out of here." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner
Reimer started for the second time this season in place of Roberto Luongo, who needs one win to pass Curtis Joseph (454 wins) for fourth on the all-time list. … Penguins defenseman Ian Cole missed a third straight game since blocking a shot with his face against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 7. Sullivan said Cole has made significant progress.
After Patric Hornqvist gave Pittsburgh its third one-goal lead of the game with 6:24 remaining in the second period, Crosby parked himself along the goal line and deflected a shot from Kris Letang through goalie James Reimer to make it 4-2 at 1:59 of the third. He used a similar deflection during a power play on a shot from Phil Kessel to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 6:46 of the first period.
"We had some really good looks," said Crosby, the Penguins' captain. "We had three 2-on-1s, at least, tonight. Sometimes you go two, three games without getting a 2-on-1. … We did some pretty good things on them. We executed well."
Crosby tied Conor Sheary for the Penguins lead in goals (three) and Bryan Rust for the lead in points (eight). Pittsburgh (3-2-1) is 8-0-2 in its past 10 games against Florida (2-2-0). That is its longest stretch without a regulation loss in the series. Penguins goalie Matt Murray made 43 saves. Reimer made 29 for the Panthers. Crosby seemed to score his second goal earlier, when Hornqvist leaped through Reimer and backhanded a pass through the crease, setting up Crosby for what would have been an easy goal with 3:25 remaining in the second period. It was disallowed when Hornqvist was called for goalie interference.
Florida and Pittsburgh combined for three goals in 3:05 during the first half of the second. After Jonathan Huberdeau scored his first of two goals to tie it 1-1 at 5:25, Greg McKegg gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal, his first goal with the Penguins, at 6:40. Huberdeau scored again to tie it 2-2 at 8:30. Huberdeau's second goal was upheld after the Penguins challenged for goaltender interference.
"It's a tough game," Huberdeau said. "They're a good team, especially at home. In the third period, we kind of played well. We had a lot of chances. We missed some chances too. I think it could've gone either way, but it happens. We just have to go to the next one."
Panthers forward Colton Sceviour left after taking a hit from Hornqvist with 2:05 remaining in the third. An update was not provided following the game.
* Sheary made an unheralded play to help facilitate Crosby's second goal when he tipped a cross-ice pass from Evgenii Dadonov that would have sent Huberdeau out of Florida's zone. The puck bounced to Letang, leading to Crosby's deflection.
* Less than two minutes after Ekblad cut Pittsburgh's lead to one, Florida had two chances to tie it but was denied by Murray each time. Murray stopped a wrist shot from Dadonov at 8:56 before kicking away a rebound attempt from Connor Brickley three seconds later.* Huberdeau established himself around Pittsburgh's crease while Keith Yandle took a slap shot that sent Murray sprawling in his crease. The rebound came to Dadonov, who carried it above the paint before Huberdeau took the puck off his tape and scored on a wrist shot past Murray for his second goal.
"I thought it was a good effort. They kind of shot the puck from everywhere. I don't think we gave them a huge amount of really good chances. I think they just kind of shot the puck from everywhere." -- Penguins goalie Matt Murray"I think we've got to figure it out that when we get into these games, you've got to give teams like this respect, but you've got to come in here and you've got to expect to get a point or two out of here." -- Panthers coach Bob BoughnerReimer started for the second time this season in place of Roberto Luongo, who needs one win to pass Curtis Joseph (454 wins) for fourth on the all-time list. … Penguins defenseman Ian Cole missed a third straight game since blocking a shot with his face against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 7. Sullivan said Cole has made significant progress.
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