Aston-Reese has 2 goals and assist, Penguins beat Jets 7-2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Injuries to some key players has forced the Pittsburgh Penguins to play a simpler game, and it’s working out quite well for them.
Zach Aston-Reese, Sam Lafferty and Jake Guentzel each had two goals to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night.
Dominik Simon also scored and Aston-Reese also had an assist for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry stopped 27 shots.
“We talk a lot about being hard to play against,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “It starts with your own puck possession, the decisions you make, the line changes, when you change. You put your teammates in good positions because you change at the right time. The tracking on the puck and the back pressure on the puck so you have numbers back.
“For me this is the definition of being hard to play against and it’s a recipe for success, regardless of who’s in your lineup.”
Forwards Nick Bjugstad, Alex Galchenyuk, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are all on Pittsburgh’s injured reserve list but the Penguins improved their record to 4-2-0 with their second win on the road this week.
“We’ve got different guys stepping up and we’ve got guys coming out of the lineup,” Guentzel said. “So it just kind of happens like that and when you lose star power like that you’ve just got to be simple and we’re getting better at it.”
Mathieu Perreault and Mark Scheifele had goals for the Jets, and Laurent Brossoit finished with 21 saves.
Jarry, playing his first game as a starter in three weeks, shook off a lucky goal from Perreault that gave the Jets a 1-0 lead in the first period. Perreault’s centering pass from behind the net bounced off a defender’s stick and in.
“It’s obviously something you can’t control, it’s something that just happens, part of the game, a weird bounce and you just have to get back and focus on what you need to do,” Jarry said.
Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice thought the turning point was a tripping penalty in the first period that gave Pittsburgh it’s second goal, followed just 41 seconds later by a third.
“We take a penalty we don’t like, and then we’re down 3-1,” he said. “We were in a fairly tight game. Not a heavy advantage to either team shot wise or chance wise. That’s where I thought it turned for us.”
He also believes the Jets’ power play needs work after they made good on just one of six chances.
“Well we’re not clicking right,” Maurice said. “We don’t have the zone time and we’re kind of out of sorts a little bit. When we get to positions that pucks get knocked down or we’re not coming up with it, we’re not in a particularly good place to defend it. We’re working on it.”
Both teams were playing back-to-back games and lacked zip in the first period but Jets forward Blake Wheeler didn’t blame it on fatigue.
“It was right there,” he said of their chance to win the game. “The start was good. Through the second period, it was good. We get the power-play goal and we’re down by a goal. Puck bounced the wrong way tonight.”
The home crowd’s celebration after Perreault’s goal was short-lived as Aston-Reese tied it up a few minutes later when, as he was falling to the ice in front of the Winnipeg net, he slipped a loose rebound past Brossoit at 4:09 for his first goal of the season.
Guentzel scored on a power play at 7:50 of the second to give the Penguins the lead and then, just 41 seconds later, a puck bounced behind the net and back out right in front of Lafferty, who slammed it in to make it 3-1.
Scheifele narrowed it by backhanding a rebound past Jarry on a power play at the 10-minute mark but Simon restored the two-goal lead with 3 1/2 minutes left as his shot pinballed through traffic before ending up in the Jets’ net. It was also his first of the season.
The Jets seemed to find more steam at the start of the third after coach Paul Maurice made some line changes but couldn’t turn things around, striking out on their fourth power play.
Instead, Lafferty scored again at 9:32 when his shot glanced off Winnipeg defenseman Anthony Bittetto’s skate. Then Guentzel beat Brossoit for his second of the game and fourth of the season at with 8:20 left to make it 6-2.
Aston-Reese scored his second of the game short-handed on a breakaway just 7 seconds into a Winnipeg power play with 5:14 remaining.
NOTES: Winnipeg finished with a 29-28 advantage on shots on goal. … The Jets had less trouble on their first meeting this season with the Penguins, walking away from PPG Paints Arena with a 4-1 win last Tuesday. … Patrik Laine picked up an assist on Scheifele’s goal but he couldn’t score despite one great chance right in front of Jarry that went high.
UP NEXT
Penguins: Host Colorado on Wednesday night.
Jets: Host Arizona in the second game of a six-game homestand.
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Crosby, short-handed Penguins beat winless Wild 7-4
By BRIAN HALL Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Just four games into the season, injuries have decimated the top lines for the Pittsburgh Penguins as Evgeni Malkin, Nick Bjugstad, Alex Galchenyuk and Bryan Rust have all missed time.
The Penguins still have Sidney Crosby, and a trio of callups helped pick up the load on Saturday.
Crosby had a goal and assist, Adam Johnson and Sam Lafferty each scored his first career goal, and the short-handed Penguins held on to beat the winless Minnesota Wild 7-4 on Saturday night.
Patric Hornqvist, Kris Letang, Joseph Blandisi and Jake Guentzel also scored in Pittsburgh’s first road game of the season. Matt Murray stopped 29 shots for the Penguins, who scored four times in the second period.
“That’s the only way you win is with everyone contributing,” Crosby said. “I think with those guys, just the way they skate and with how fast they are on the forecheck, and what they’re able to do that way, they’re going to create chances just by that. I think with every game they’ll get more and more comfortable and you could see tonight, they got some huge goals for us.”
Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk gave up five goals on 23 shots and was pulled midway through the second period. Alex Stalock made seven saves in relief.
Jason Zucker, Jared Spurgeon, Brad Hunt and Luke Kunin scored for the Wild, who lost their home opener and fell to 0-4-0.
“Yeah, it is frustrating right now, especially start of the season,” Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu said. “I think you always want that first one, obviously, as soon as you can. Things are not going our way right now. We can be here and whine about it, but you got to go forward.”
Crosby continued his success against Minnesota — increasing his total to 23 points in 18 career games against the Wild — but Pittsburgh got support throughout the lineup while playing without four key forwards.
Malkin and Bjugstad each missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. Malkin was placed on long-term injured reserve. Rust hasn’t played this season with upper-body injury and Galchenyuk missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury.
The four combined for 72 goals and 102 assists last season.
After breaking out for seven goals in the last game played by Malkin and Bjugstad, the Penguins had scored three goals in the previous two games. The injuries forced the callups of Johnson, Lafferty and Blandisi.
The three combined for three goals on Saturday while skating on the fourth line.
“I think these guys, they’ve shown that they can come in and have an impact on the game,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said, noting the fourth line defended well and sustained momentum on the forecheck. “When you can have the trust in those guys that you can put them in those situations, it can give us an opportunity to use Crosby’s line for example, in an advantageous situation offensively.”
Johnson started a Penguins surge later in the period as they scored three times in 2:28.
Guentzel scored on the power-play for a 6-2 lead midway through the third before Minnesota scored twice in 21 seconds on goals from Hunt and Kunin.
“I think the formula has been the same every game,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “They score three goals in 2 1/2 minutes … It’s like we get a woe is me attitude. We’re down instead of picking up our shoes like we did the last five minutes and saying let’s go get them. Until we learn how to quit feeling sorry for ourselves, it’s not going to work.”
NOTES: Minnesota fell to 14-1-4 in home openers in franchise history. They entered the game first in league history in point percentage in home openers. … The Wild honored the National Anthem singer for the Minnesota North Stars, Jim Bowers, before the game. Bowers died in the offseason and the team used a video rendition of Bowers signing the anthem on Saturday. Minnesota’s new executive advisor, Mike Modano, did the customary “Let’s play hockey” call before the game. … Murray won his 100th career regular season game, becoming the fourth goaltender in franchise history to reach the mark. Murray is the quickest of the four, hitting the milestone in just his 166th career appearance. Only six goaltenders have reached the mark quicker in the post-expansion era. … The Wild play six of their first seven and 17 of 26 games on the road this season. The nine home games in October and November are the fewest in franchise history.
UP NEXT
Penguins: At Winnipeg on Sunday.
Wild: At Ottawa on Monday.
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Heinola, inexperienced D lead Jets past Penguins, 4-1
By DAN SCIFO Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The youngest member of an inexperienced Winnipeg Jets defensive unit led the way to a big win.
Ville Heinola scored his first NHL goal and the Jets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Tuesday night.
“It was a good moment for me,” the 18-year-old Heinola said. “It was exciting. Of course, I was dreaming of that.”
The Jets got their first win in Pittsburgh since returning to the NHL in 2011. The Penguins previously won 18 consecutive home games against the Jets-Atlanta Thrashers franchise dating to March 24, 2007. Pittsburgh’s last loss against Winnipeg at home came on Dec. 27, 2006.
Tucker Poolman scored his second NHL goal and Neal Pionk his second of the season as three defensemen scored for a young Jets blueline, which combined for 350 career NHL games.
“Those guys have worked really hard back there,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “They’re learning every shift. I thought they were great.”
Nikolaj Ehlers scored his first of the season, while Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele both had three assists for the Jets, who closed a season-opening, four-game road trip. Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves in his second start of the season.
“I thought the guys in front of me played very hard,” Hellebuyck said. “They were blocking shots at the right time and controlling shots from the outside. It was a team win.”
Sidney Crosby scored his first of the season and Matt Murray stopped 17 shots for Pittsburgh, which routed Columbus 7-2 on Saturday.
“I don’t think the score (Tuesday) was an indication of how the game was played,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think the game was a lot closer than the score indicates.”
Jets defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was granted a personal leave of absence, while Josh Morrissey missed his second straight game after sustaining an upper body injury during warmups before Sunday’s loss at the New York Islanders.
The Jets played Tuesday without six defensemen from last season’s team, which lost to eventual Stanley Cup champion St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs. The list includes Kulikov and Morrissey, while Dustin Byfuglien remains away from the team on a personal leave. Winnipeg traded Jacob Trouba to the New York Rangers, while Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot left in free agency.
Heinola, Poolman and Pionk provided not only defense but scoring.
“We all went through training camp together, so we all got to know each other pretty well,” Pionk said. “We created that bond in training camp and went from there.”
Pittsburgh had injury troubles of its own as Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bjugstad were recently placed on injured reserve after leaving Saturday’s win against Columbus with lower body injuries. Sullivan said both will be out long term. Patric Hornqvist also left Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury.
“We had a shortened bench for a lot of the game and the guys competed pretty hard,” Sullivan said.
Crosby opened the scoring 32 seconds into the game. He was alone at the top of the crease when he redirected Jake Guentzel’s pass past Hellebuyck.
Heinola, the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft, scored his first NHL goal at 5:48 of the period. Heinola’s shot from the top of the left circle snuck underneath Murray’s glove to tie the game.
Ehlers gave Winnipeg a 2-1 lead less than five minutes later. He pounced on a turnover at Pittsburgh’s blue line and ripped a short-side wrist shot past a standing Murray.
Poolman put Winnipeg ahead 3-1 just 54 seconds into the second period with a blocker-side wrist shot from the slot.
Pionk made it 4-1 midway through the second. It was the third goal scored by the Jets’ young defensive corps, more than enough to beat Pittsburgh on this night.
“I thought they were fantastic,” Hellebuyck said. “They were blocking shots, they were controlling pucks and they did exactly what they were asked to do. I think as the game went on, they got even better.”
NOTES: Crosby passed Jean Beliveau for 41st on the NHL’s career points list. . Pittsburgh’s Brandon Tanev played against his former team. Tanev, who signed a six-year, $21-million contract in July, set career highs last season with the Jets and scored 24 goals and 51 points in 195 games. . Penguins D John Marino and F Sam Lafferty made their NHL debuts. Lafferty grew up less than 100 miles from Pittsburgh. . The Penguins have won 15 of their last 20 games overall against the Jets.
UP NEXT
Jets: Play their home opener Thursday against Minnesota
Penguins: Close a season-opening four-game homestand Thursday against Anaheim

McCann, second-period burst leads Pens past Blue Jackets
By DAN SCIFO Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins rebounded from a season-opening dud.
Jared McCann scored twice as the Penguins had five goals in the second period to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-2 on Saturday night.
The offensive outburst helped Pittsburgh rediscover its confidence after making 17 turnovers in a home loss to Buffalo on Thursday.
Pittsburgh scored five goals on 14 second-period shots. The last time Pittsburgh scored five goals in a period came on Jan. 16, 2017, against Washington.
“I thought our confidence built as the game went on,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought we were playing on our toes and I thought we mounted a pretty good attack. There’s still some areas where we know we have to clean up, but I thought the guys played hard.”
The Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin left in the second period and did not return with an undisclosed injury. He ran into D Kris Letang near center ice and awkwardly fell into the boards. Malkin, the 2012 NHL MVP, scored a power-play goal against Buffalo on Thursday.
Center Nick Bjugstad also left and didn’t return for Pittsburgh. Sullivan said after the game that Malkin and Bjugstad were being evaluated and he didn’t have an update on their status.
McCann tied a career high with three points. The other time came as a member of the Florida Panthers when he had a goal and two assists on March 20, 2018. McCann scored two goals once with Pittsburgh on March 23 last season against Dallas.
“It’s huge, but I can’t take all the credit,” McCann said. “My linemates did most of the work and found me. I just tried to get it to the net.”
Patric Hornqvist scored twice and Letang had a power-play goal, while Teddy Blueger and Marcus Pettersson also scored for Pittsburgh. Alex Galchenyuk, acquired from Arizona in a trade for Phil Kessel, recorded two assists for his first two points with Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby also had two assists.
Matt Murray made 28 saves and is now two wins from 100 in his NHL career.
Gustav Nyquist scored his first goal for Columbus and Zach Werenski scored for the Blue Jackets, who lost their second game in as many days. Columbus lost its season-opener 4-1 to Toronto at home and has been outscored 11-3 in two games. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 31 shots in his NHL debut.
“It’s an opportunity for us right away at the beginning of the year to teach about patience, to teach about how we have to play,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “Hopefully, we’ll go about it the right way.”
Pittsburgh opened the scoring at 1:45 of the second when Hornqvist tipped Jack Johnson’s point shot past Merzlikins. The Penguins took a 2-0 lead 2:29 later when Pettersson’s shot from the top of the left circle caromed off Merzlikins’ glove and behind the line.
Not long after Pittsburgh’s second goal, Werenski was left alone at the right side of the crease and cut the Blue Jackets’ deficit in half.
But the Penguins regained their two-goal cushion, 3-1, two minutes later when McCann sent a blocker-side wrist shot behind Merzlikins during a two-on-one.
McCann scored his second goal of the game 14 seconds after a fighting major to Crosby, his first in four years. McCann took a backhand pass from Galchenyuk at the blue line and sent another blocker-side wrist shot past Merzlikins.
Letang scored Pittsburgh’s fifth goal of the second period with 1.2 seconds to play. He beat Merzlikins with a slap shot from the right faceoff dot.
“It took us awhile to find our swagger,” McCann said. “That’s something that this team needs to play with. We have guys who have so much skill and need to make plays, but sometimes we just have to keep it simple.”
NOTES: Crosby passed Larry Murphy for sole possession of 42nd-place on the NHL’s all-time points list with 1,218. … Werenski, with 39 goals, is two from the Blue Jackets’ record for most by a defenseman. … Murray has nine wins in 12 games all-time against Columbus. … Pittsburgh has won eight straight home games against Columbus and 16 of 20 all-time. … The Penguins have won eight of their last 10 games against Columbus. … Brandon Tanev and Dominik Kahun, acquired in the offseason, recorded their first points with Pittsburgh.
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: Host Buffalo on Monday
Penguins: Continue a season-opening four-game homestand Tuesday against Winnipeg.
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Sheary scores twice against old team, Sabres beat Penguins
By DAN SCIFO Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Conor Sheary took it personally when Pittsburgh traded him to Buffalo in June 2018.
Sheary scored twice and Carter Hutton stopped 26 shots in the Sabres’ 3-1 victory over the Penguins on Thursday night in the opener for both teams.
“I think you just want to prove to people that you can still play,” Sheary said. “You kind of get the feeling that someone doesn’t want you when they trade you, and I think I took that to heart, so coming back is always fun.”
Rasmus Dahlin also scored to help Buffalo give Ralph Krueger a victory in his Sabres coaching debut. Buffalo beat Pittsburgh in regulation for the first time since April 23, 2013.
Krueger last coached in the NHL in 2012-13 when the Edmonton Oilers had 19 wins during a shortened 48-game regular season. Buffalo went 33-39-10 under Phil Housley last season.
“For me, personally, I said that I was going to have fun during this ride in the National Hockey League, and these guys helped the fun part with games like (Thursday),” Krueger said.
Sheary, who played on two Stanley Cup champions teams with the Penguins, has four goals and six points in four games against his former team. He scored two goals twice last season, including a March 1 home game against Pittsburgh.
“For him, here in Pittsburgh, no question he was ready and dialed in,” Krueger said.
Buffalo’s last game in Pittsburgh was an overtime win in November 2018 when the Sabres snapped an eight-game winless streak in Pittsburgh. The victory Thursday gave Buffalo consecutive road wins in Pittsburgh for the first time since 2012-13.
Evgeni Malkin scored on the power play for Pittsburgh. Matt Murray made 38 saves.
Pittsburgh had 15 wins in its past 18 games against the Sabres, dating to Oct. 5, 2013. The Penguins also previously won eight of nine home games against the Sabres and 11 of 15 since PPG Paints Arena opened in 2010-11.
“We just weren’t good enough in a lot of areas,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I know we’re capable of being better.”
Pittsburgh earned an NHL-best 13th-straight playoff berth last season, but was swept from the opening round of the playoffs by the New York Islanders.
The Penguins didn’t make sweeping changes to the roster. Instead, they brought in wingers Alex Galchenyuk and Dominik Kahun, through trades with Arizona and Chicago, in addition to free-agent pickup Brandon Tanev, as Sullivan seeks a brand of intelligent and responsible hockey that demands responsibility at both ends of the ice.
After one game, it remains a work in progress.
“We just have to do a better job as a group,” Sullivan said. “We’ll see what we can learn from it. We have a lot of hockey in front of us. I know this team is capable of being better.”
The Sabres took control early with 10 of the game’s first 12 shots and the opening goal.
Sheary started the scoring at 5:23 following a Penguins’ turnover at their own blueline. He took a pass from Casey Mittelstadt and beat Murray to the blocker side from in close.
Malkin tied it at 5:50 of the second period with a power-play goal. He beat a screened Hutton with a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot. Malkin has points in 10 straight games against Buffalo.
Sheary gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 14:03 when he converted a rebound from the slot past Murray.
It’s a lead the Sabres never relinquished.
“Conor is a guy that can finish,” Sullivan said. “He did it for us when he was here, and he’s a dangerous guy.”
NOTES: Sidney Crosby had an assist to tie Larry Murphy for 42nd on the NHL’s career points list with 1,217. Crosby has a seven-game points streak against Buffalo and one point in 36 of 40 career games against the Sabres. … Buffalo’s Victor Olofsson and Henri Jokiharju were recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League. … Sabres’ D Colin Miller recorded his 100th NHL point. … Buffalo’s last opener in Pittsburgh was the team’s first game, a 2-1 victory on Oct. 10, 1970.
UP NEXT
Sabres: Host New Jersey on Saturday night.
Penguins: Host Columbus on Saturday night.
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