Pens @ Edmonton Oilers 3-2 - Wednesday, November 01, 2017
Evgeni Malkin scored a power-play goal with 7:37 left in the third period, and Matt Murray made 35 saves for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place. Patric Hornqvist and Conor Sheary scored for Pittsburgh (8-5-1), and Phil Kessel and Kris Letang each had two assists. The Penguins had lost two in a row.
"For the whole team, this was a big effort for us," Hornqvist said. "We all played really hard. We went back to the old school, winning one-on-one battles out there. When we do that, we have a good team, and obviously the power play helped us to win the game."
Sheary tied it 2-2 with 22 seconds left in the second period on a pass from Sidney Crosby in front, seconds after Edmonton center Connor McDavid just missed tipping in a centering pass from Patrick Maroon on the rush against Murray. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl scored for Edmonton (3-7-1). McDavid had two assists, and Cam Talbot made 27 saves.
"This one is pretty hard to swallow right now," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We were right there the whole game. There wasn't much separating us. If anything, I thought we outplayed them a little bit."
Hornqvist scored on the power play 56 seconds into the second period to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead, tipping a point shot from Letang past Talbot.
"We haven't been good at holding that lead," McDavid said. "We have to find a way to switch those timely goals around. I thought we generated a bit of momentum on the power play and had some good chances. It's something to build off of, I guess."
Malkin gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead, finishing a pass from Kessel on a rush.
"Edmonton's a good hockey team, they've got a lot of offensive weapons, they're a dangerous team off the rush in particular," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought, for the most part, we had a pretty solid effort 5-on-5."
"When you're going down, you don't really know how much time is left on the clock," Crosby said. "You're kind of hoping that it ticks down before they get back in our end. But we just couldn't find a way to put it in, and they've got time, they're quick, and they're waiting for that chance to come back the other way."
Edmonton has lost two straight and four of its past five (1-3-1).
"We just have to find ways to win hockey games right now," Maroon said. "We are not winning them, and we can sit here and talk about what we need to do, but enough is enough, and we just have to find ways to win these games."
Goal of the game
Malkin's goal at 12:23 of the third period.
Murray's save on Nugent-Hopkins with 13 seconds left in the third period.
McDavid's pass to set up Draisaitl's goal at 7:26 of the second period.
"We're working our tails off every night, that's not the issue. It's just little subtle mistakes here and there, little lapses in judgment, and that's been hurting us. Tonight we tried to stay on our toes and just play an overall solid game and I think we did that." -- Penguins goaltender Matt Murray
Need to know
Nugent-Hopkins scored his 100th NHL goal in his 406th game. … McDavid has seven points (two goals, five assists) in four games against Pittsburgh but has yet to win against the Penguins, including a 2-1 overtime loss on Oct. 24. … Pittsburgh has won its past five games in Edmonton.
Pens @ Calgary Flames 1-2 OT - Thursday, November 02, 2017Sheary tied it 2-2 with 22 seconds left in the second period on a pass from Sidney Crosby in front, seconds after Edmonton center Connor McDavid just missed tipping in a centering pass from Patrick Maroon on the rush against Murray. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl scored for Edmonton (3-7-1). McDavid had two assists, and Cam Talbot made 27 saves.
"This one is pretty hard to swallow right now," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We were right there the whole game. There wasn't much separating us. If anything, I thought we outplayed them a little bit."
Hornqvist scored on the power play 56 seconds into the second period to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead, tipping a point shot from Letang past Talbot.
"We haven't been good at holding that lead," McDavid said. "We have to find a way to switch those timely goals around. I thought we generated a bit of momentum on the power play and had some good chances. It's something to build off of, I guess."
Malkin gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead, finishing a pass from Kessel on a rush.
"Edmonton's a good hockey team, they've got a lot of offensive weapons, they're a dangerous team off the rush in particular," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought, for the most part, we had a pretty solid effort 5-on-5."
"When you're going down, you don't really know how much time is left on the clock," Crosby said. "You're kind of hoping that it ticks down before they get back in our end. But we just couldn't find a way to put it in, and they've got time, they're quick, and they're waiting for that chance to come back the other way."
Edmonton has lost two straight and four of its past five (1-3-1).
"We just have to find ways to win hockey games right now," Maroon said. "We are not winning them, and we can sit here and talk about what we need to do, but enough is enough, and we just have to find ways to win these games."
Goal of the game
Malkin's goal at 12:23 of the third period.
Murray's save on Nugent-Hopkins with 13 seconds left in the third period.
McDavid's pass to set up Draisaitl's goal at 7:26 of the second period.
"We're working our tails off every night, that's not the issue. It's just little subtle mistakes here and there, little lapses in judgment, and that's been hurting us. Tonight we tried to stay on our toes and just play an overall solid game and I think we did that." -- Penguins goaltender Matt Murray
Need to know
Nugent-Hopkins scored his 100th NHL goal in his 406th game. … McDavid has seven points (two goals, five assists) in four games against Pittsburgh but has yet to win against the Penguins, including a 2-1 overtime loss on Oct. 24. … Pittsburgh has won its past five games in Edmonton.
Mark Giordano scored 2:19 into overtime, and Mike Smith made 43 saves to help the Calgary Flames to a 2-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Scotiabank Saddledome. Giordano took a cross-ice pass from Matthew Tkachuk and lifted a shot short side over goalie Tristan Jarry's shoulder.
"I think everyone thought [Tkachuk] was coming back with that puck at center. I did, I know that," Giordano said. "He made a good move on two of their players, got two of them caught. The actual play to cut in and draw another guy to him … he has a knack for those big-time plays. I was happy to be able to bury that one for him."
Sean Monahan scored for the Flames (7-6-0), who are 2-1-0 on a seven-game homestand.
"When you win those low-scoring games, there's a lot of battles that go throughout the game … blocked shots and faceoffs and little things. I think everyone's playing their role right now and when we're doing that, we're winning," Monahan said.
"This is one of the better games that we played, back-to-back or no back-to-back," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "This is definitely the best game we've played on this trip. We probably deserved a better fate. We liked a lot of our game tonight."
Monahan scored when he centered a rebound on Johnny Gaudreau's shot off Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin and into the net to give the Flames a 1-0 lead at 15:53 of the third period. Hornqvist tied the game 1-1 when he deflected Kris Letang's point shot past Smith. Jarry was on the bench for the extra attacker.
"To be able to tie it up was good," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't get it done in overtime."
Smith made 19 saves in the first period, including a glove save on Hornqvist's shot from a sharp angle on the power play at 10:23, and a left pad save on Carl Hagelin's partial breakaway at 12:38.
"As a goalie you're standing back there and you can't really control what happens in front of you, so there's no sense in worrying about the shot clock," Smith said. "You just worry about the next save. I know it's cliché coming from a goalie, but it's the truth."Jarry made 14 saves in the second, including Dougie Hamilton's initial shot from the high slot at 3:28 and his second opportunity at 3:32, and a pad save on Monahan's wrist shot from the high slot with five seconds remaining in the period.
"I thought he played really well," Crosby said. "I think that with the forwards they have and the skill level of the power play that they have, he was tested and did a great job for us and gave us a chance to win."
Goal of the game
Giordano's goal at 2:19 of overtime.
Smith against Conor Sheary 28 seconds into overtime.
Hornqvist's goal at 18:48 of the third period.
"When you're in that kind of game, I think you just don't pass up shots and try to make sure that you're finishing on net. It's kind of a race to that first one most times. In this case, we were able to tie it up. Pretty tight hockey game. Both goalies played well. We've just got to find ways to win those." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
Need to know
Letang has five assists in his past four games. … Gaudreau has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past eight games. … Flames forward Jaromir Jagr missed his fifth straight game because of a lower-body injury.
Sean Monahan scored for the Flames (7-6-0), who are 2-1-0 on a seven-game homestand.
"When you win those low-scoring games, there's a lot of battles that go throughout the game … blocked shots and faceoffs and little things. I think everyone's playing their role right now and when we're doing that, we're winning," Monahan said.
"This is one of the better games that we played, back-to-back or no back-to-back," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "This is definitely the best game we've played on this trip. We probably deserved a better fate. We liked a lot of our game tonight."
Monahan scored when he centered a rebound on Johnny Gaudreau's shot off Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin and into the net to give the Flames a 1-0 lead at 15:53 of the third period. Hornqvist tied the game 1-1 when he deflected Kris Letang's point shot past Smith. Jarry was on the bench for the extra attacker.
"To be able to tie it up was good," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't get it done in overtime."
Smith made 19 saves in the first period, including a glove save on Hornqvist's shot from a sharp angle on the power play at 10:23, and a left pad save on Carl Hagelin's partial breakaway at 12:38.
"As a goalie you're standing back there and you can't really control what happens in front of you, so there's no sense in worrying about the shot clock," Smith said. "You just worry about the next save. I know it's cliché coming from a goalie, but it's the truth."Jarry made 14 saves in the second, including Dougie Hamilton's initial shot from the high slot at 3:28 and his second opportunity at 3:32, and a pad save on Monahan's wrist shot from the high slot with five seconds remaining in the period.
"I thought he played really well," Crosby said. "I think that with the forwards they have and the skill level of the power play that they have, he was tested and did a great job for us and gave us a chance to win."
Goal of the game
Giordano's goal at 2:19 of overtime.
Smith against Conor Sheary 28 seconds into overtime.
Hornqvist's goal at 18:48 of the third period.
"When you're in that kind of game, I think you just don't pass up shots and try to make sure that you're finishing on net. It's kind of a race to that first one most times. In this case, we were able to tie it up. Pretty tight hockey game. Both goalies played well. We've just got to find ways to win those." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
Need to know
Letang has five assists in his past four games. … Gaudreau has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past eight games. … Flames forward Jaromir Jagr missed his fifth straight game because of a lower-body injury.
Pens @ Vancouver Canucks 2-4 - Saturday, November 04, 2017
Brock Boeser scored his first NHL hat trick, including the game-winning goal, and had an assist to lift the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Rogers Arena. After Greg McKegg tied it 2-2 at 4:49 of the third period for the Penguins, Boeser scored his third goal 1:07 later to restore the lead. The 20-year-old rookie forward took a back pass from Bo Horvat, cut left into the high slot and beat Matt Murray with a wrist shot over the glove.
"When they tied the game, we didn't have any panic. We knew we had to keep putting our foot on the pedal," Boeser said. "It's special being my first hat trick, but just against the Stanley Cup champions and those types of guys, it makes it a little more special."
Boeser leads the Canucks with 13 points (five goals, eight assists) through their first 13 games despite being a healthy scratch for the first two and missing a third with a bruised foot.
"He can shoot the puck and he's in the right spot at the right time," Horvat said.
Playing mostly against the Penguins' top line of Sidney Crosby, Connor Sheary and Patric Hornqvist, Vancouver's top line of Boeser, Horvat and Sven Baertschi combined for four goals and seven assists.
"The last two games before this we were hurting for goals," said Horvat, who scored with 3:21 left in the third period and had three assists. "To finally get rewarded for our chances felt great."
Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves, and Baertschi had three assists for the Canucks (7-4-2).
"If [Markstrom] wasn't as sharp as he was we weren't going to win," Vancouver coach Travis Green said.
The same was true of his young top line of Boeser, Baertschi (25), and Horvat (22).
"As I keep playing with Bo and Sven we keep gaining chemistry. I feel more confident each game," Boeser said. "We play quick and we create turnovers. That's how we create chances."
Jake Guentzel scored, and Murray made 17 saves for the Penguins (8-6-2), who went 1-3-1 on their season-high five-game road trip after starting the season 7-3-1.
Guentzel made it 1-0 on a power play 2:53 into the first period with a backdoor tap-in after a passing play that started with a between-the-legs feed from Crosby to Phil Kessel. Boeser tied it at 7:07 of the first period and put Vancouver ahead 2-1 7:14 into the second after a Horvat backhand pass from near the end boards to Baertschi in the slot. Baertschi kicked the puck over to Boeser, who was coming out from behind the net on Murray's right and scored into an open net behind the goalie from a sharp angle.
Goal of the game
Boeser's first goal at 7:07 of the first period.
Markstrom's save on Kessel with 6:12 left in the third period.
Markstrom's glove save on Kessel 3:34 into the second period.
"We didn't give up a significant amount of scoring chances. I thought we generated a fair amount of scoring chances. We are a little bit snakebitten right now. The puck isn't going in the net for us." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
Need to know
Pittsburgh played its NHL-leading 11th game on the road, where it is 4-6-1. … Murray hadn't given up a goal to the Canucks in his two previous starts against them, both last season. … Vancouver forwards Henrik Sedin (8:52) and Daniel Sedin (8:38) each had a season low in ice time.
Boeser leads the Canucks with 13 points (five goals, eight assists) through their first 13 games despite being a healthy scratch for the first two and missing a third with a bruised foot.
"He can shoot the puck and he's in the right spot at the right time," Horvat said.
Playing mostly against the Penguins' top line of Sidney Crosby, Connor Sheary and Patric Hornqvist, Vancouver's top line of Boeser, Horvat and Sven Baertschi combined for four goals and seven assists.
"The last two games before this we were hurting for goals," said Horvat, who scored with 3:21 left in the third period and had three assists. "To finally get rewarded for our chances felt great."
Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves, and Baertschi had three assists for the Canucks (7-4-2).
"If [Markstrom] wasn't as sharp as he was we weren't going to win," Vancouver coach Travis Green said.
The same was true of his young top line of Boeser, Baertschi (25), and Horvat (22).
"As I keep playing with Bo and Sven we keep gaining chemistry. I feel more confident each game," Boeser said. "We play quick and we create turnovers. That's how we create chances."
Jake Guentzel scored, and Murray made 17 saves for the Penguins (8-6-2), who went 1-3-1 on their season-high five-game road trip after starting the season 7-3-1.
Guentzel made it 1-0 on a power play 2:53 into the first period with a backdoor tap-in after a passing play that started with a between-the-legs feed from Crosby to Phil Kessel. Boeser tied it at 7:07 of the first period and put Vancouver ahead 2-1 7:14 into the second after a Horvat backhand pass from near the end boards to Baertschi in the slot. Baertschi kicked the puck over to Boeser, who was coming out from behind the net on Murray's right and scored into an open net behind the goalie from a sharp angle.
Goal of the game
Boeser's first goal at 7:07 of the first period.
Markstrom's save on Kessel with 6:12 left in the third period.
Markstrom's glove save on Kessel 3:34 into the second period.
"We didn't give up a significant amount of scoring chances. I thought we generated a fair amount of scoring chances. We are a little bit snakebitten right now. The puck isn't going in the net for us." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
Need to know
Pittsburgh played its NHL-leading 11th game on the road, where it is 4-6-1. … Murray hadn't given up a goal to the Canucks in his two previous starts against them, both last season. … Vancouver forwards Henrik Sedin (8:52) and Daniel Sedin (8:38) each had a season low in ice time.
Save of the game
"What I love about our group is that we stick to it, we just stay with it. It was an ugly win, but it was a win." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta had an assist to match his point total from last season (seven) in just seven games. He had seven points in 55 games last season. … Malkin's goal was his 11th in overtime and tied Mario Lemieux for the most in Penguins history. … Penguins defenseman Ian Cole, who had an assist, played while wearing a full face shield. He missed the previous three games with a facial injury. … The Penguins placed defenseman Matt Hunwick (concussion) on injured reserve and sent defenseman Chris Summers to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
"It wasn't pretty. They were throwing a lot of pucks to the net and when you get down 2-0, it's not the situation to put yourself in, but we had a lot of time left. We got back to our game pretty quickly and finished up the second half of the first pretty good. That built some confidence." -- Penguins forward Sidney Crosby
* Namestnikov took a pass from Kucherov along the goal line to the right of the net, drew Penguins defensemen Olli Maatta and Chad Ruhwedel to him by backing out toward the front of the net, and sent a no-look, backhand feed to Stamkos, who beat Niemi high on the stick side from the bottom of the left face-off circle.* Vasilevskiy reached back to stop Carl Hagelin's shot with his arm just before it crossed the goal line with 24 seconds remaining in the first period following a cross-crease pass by Guentzel.* Gourde scored his buzzer-beating goal from just outside the crease off the rebound of a Braydon Coburn shot. "For me, the key to the game was the Vasilevskiy save (on Hagelin) and then we go down and score," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "So it's either 2-1 or 3-0 going into the room."* Stamkos and Kucherov are the first NHL teammates to each have a nine-game point streak to start a season since Doug Weight and Pavol Demitra did it for the St. Louis Blues in 2001-02. … Penguins forward Carter Rowney left the game after he was hit in the hand with a shot early in the first period. Sullivan said he will be evaluated in Pittsburgh.