Category: NHL

Crosby, Kessel keep Penguins rolling with 3-2 win over Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Phil Kessel had a goal and two assists, and Sidney Crosby added a goal and assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins kept rolling with a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.

Casey DeSmith, who stopped 40 shots to beat Minnesota on Dec. 20, made 31 saves for Pittsburgh, which tied its season high with its fourth straight road win.

Kessel has three points in each of his past three games and Crosby has four straight games with multiple points for the Penguins, who have won eight of their past 10 games, a season-high six games in a row and finished December 11-3-1.

Mikko Koivu scored for the first time in 15 games and Zach Parise added his 17th goal of the season for the Wild. Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves for Minnesota, which has lost eight of its past 11 games.

The Wild snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday at Winnipeg and then opened the scoring against the Penguins.

Koivu started a rush from his defensive zone and got a pass from Nino Niederreiter in the slot, sending a quick shot past DeSmith. It was the first power-play goal allowed by Pittsburgh in six games. They had killed 14 straight short-handed situations.

It was Koivu’s 59th career power-play goal, tied with Marian Gaborik for most in franchise history.

Given their first power-play, the Penguins tied the game with Kessel sending a pass through defenseman Ryan Suter’s legs to Crosby alone on the back side for an easy tap-in goal.

It was the fifth-straight goal on the power-play for Pittsburgh, which was 4 of 4 in a 6-1 win against St. Louis on Saturday. Crosby has 10 points in the past four games.

Kessel scored his 17th goal of the season with 21 seconds left in the first period when his shot from the side deflected off Suter’s stick past Dubnyk.

Riley Sheahan scored in the second period for the Penguins and DeSmith helped the lead until Parise’s goal at 15:55 of the third.

Minnesota had 13 shots in a scoreless second, including several in which DeSmith made highlight saves. At one point, defenseman Jonas Brodin was sent in alone on a pass from Zach Parise, but DeSmith poked the puck away before Brodin could get a shot.

NOTES: Pittsburgh F Bryan Rust missed his first game of the season with a lower-body injury he sustained in the previous game against St. Louis. He’s considered day-to-day. Zach Aston-Reese took Rust’s spot on Sidney Crosby’s line. … Penguins D Olli Maatta was a game-time decision with a lower-body injury but was in the lineup. Jamie Oleksiak was a healthy scratch for the second straight game after missing three games with an injury. … Minnesota D Nick Seeler (upper-body injury) skated before the game and coach Bruce Boudreau said Seeler could return on the team’s upcoming four-game road trip. … Crosby became just the second player in Pittsburgh history to play in 900 games. Mario Lemieux is the all-time leader in games played with 915.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Face the New York Rangers on Wednesday.

Wild: Play Thursday in Toronto.

Crosby’s 4 points lead streaking Penguins past Blues 6-1

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists to lead the surging Pittsburgh Penguins past the St. Louis Blues 6-1 on Saturday night.

Juuso Riikola, Zach Aston-Reese, Kris Letang, Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins, who converted on all four power plays. Pittsburgh has won a season-best five consecutive games.

Matt Murray stopped 30 shots to improve to 9-5-1. He has won five straight starts since returning from a lower-body injury on Dec. 15.

Jake Allen allowed four goals on 17 shots before getting pulled for Jordan Binnington almost halfway through the game. Allen fell to 13-11-4 and has been replaced in five of his 29 starts.

Alexander Steen was penalized for high-sticking Bryan Rust nine seconds into the game. Crosby capitalized when he one-timed a pass from Patrik Hornqvist past Allen for his team-leading 17th goal 39 seconds into the ensuing power play.

Crosby has nine points (one goal, eight assists) over his last three games.

Riikola fired a shot from the point past Allen with the Penguins on another power play 5:13 into the second period for his first NHL goal.

Aston-Reese netted his fifth of the season 2:04 later, and Kris Letang followed with his ninth to end Allen’s night.

David Perron scored his 13th with 5:24 remaining in the second to break up the shutout bid.

St. Louis entered on a two-game winning streak but has not won three in a row since taking six straight in March last season.

Guentzel and Malkin scored against Binnington 33 seconds apart in the third period.

NOTES: St. Louis played its 4,000th game in franchise history, making it the 10th NHL team to reach that milestone. . Blues D Alex Pietrangelo returned to the lineup after missing 11 games with a broken wrist. . Pittsburgh has not given up a power-play goal in 14 opportunities during its winning streak.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Visit the Minnesota Wild on Monday.

St. Louis: Host the New York Rangers on Monday.

Crosby, Murray lead Penguins to a 3-0 win at Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sidney Crosby set up three goals and Matt Murray made 38 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 Saturday night.

Jake Guentzel scored twice and Kris Letang added a goal for the Penguins, who won for the fifth time in six games. It was Murray’s second shutout in 14 starts this season.

The Hurricanes lost for the fifth time in six games.

Crosby set up behind the Carolina net and fed Letang for Pittsburgh’s first goal at 8:41 in the first period.

The second goal, just 3 minutes into the second period, was nearly identical. This time Crosby found Guentzel in front of Carolina goalie Curtis McElhinney for the score.

Crosby set up Guentzel for his second goal with 50.3 seconds left in the second period. Guentzel was alone in front of McElhinney and netted his 15th goal of the season.

Crosby has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in the last five games.

The Penguins have put together an 11-4-2 record since Nov. 21. They had lost nine of 10 before that stretch and were in last place in the Eastern Conference. Now with 42 points, the Penguins are in eighth place in the conference. The Hurricanes, with 33 points, are two points out of last place in the conference.

Carolina winger Warren Foegele had two breakaway chances in the first period, but Murray stopped both.

The only goal that initially appeared to get by Murray came with 2 minutes left in the first. Dougie Hamilton’s slap shot from the right point sailed past Murray’s right shoulder and hit the inside of the crossbar. It was ruled a goal and then overturned.

The Hurricanes fell to 2-6-1 in December and have one win in five home games this month. The players had a long meeting after the 4-1 home loss to Detroit on Thursday night. They talked about resiliency and mental toughness.

Carolina was shutout for the third time this season and first time at home.

NOTES: For the first time since moving to North Carolina in 1997, the Hurricanes will wear the old Hartford Whalers uniforms on Sunday in their home game with the Boston Bruins. Carolina owner Tom Dundon, who bought the team last January, has embraced the marketing opportunities with the popular green-and-blue Whalers logo. … The attendance of 16,264 featured plenty of Penguins fans in black and gold. … Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan improved to 10-3-1 against the Hurricanes during his four-year tenure with the Penguins.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Get a four-day break before hosting Detroit on Dec. 27.

Hurricanes: Host Boston on Sunday.