Category: NHL

Penguins ruin Fleury’s homecoming with 5-4 win over Vegas

Penguins ruin Fleury’s homecoming with 5-4 win over Vegas
By DAN SCIFO, Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — It was an emotional night for the Pittsburgh Penguins and their beloved former goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury was back in the city where he started his NHL career and spent more than a decade, helping to backstop the Penguins to multiple championships. The Penguins wanted to honor their old friend — and they did — but they also wanted to win.
Third-period goals by Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel ruined Fleury’s homecoming as the Penguins defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 on Tuesday.
“I think it was an important game, and obviously with (Fleury) coming in it added a lot of emotion,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “Once you get out there, you’re trying to win a game and he’s trying to do the same thing.”
Fleury, who won three Stanley Cups with the Penguins — including the last two seasons — returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since Vegas selected him in the expansion draft last summer. Fleury, who stopped 33 shots, beat his former teammates in December in Las Vegas.
“The game was (in Pittsburgh), so it was different,” Fleury said. “It was very weird, but it was a game I’ll remember forever.”
In the first meeting between the teams in Pittsburgh, Malkin gave the Penguins a 4-2 lead with his 30th of the season at 3:09 of the third period. Malkin, who scored in his fifth straight game, became the fifth player in team history to score 30 goals six times.
Kessel extended the lead to 5-2 a little more than three minutes later on a one-touch, backdoor feed from Malkin.
Jake Guentzel, Ryan Reaves and Ian Cole also scored for Pittsburgh, which won for the fifth time in six games.
Matt Murray, Fleury’s former understudy in Pittsburgh, made 21 saves to top his mentor.
William Karlsson scored his 28th of the season on a power play for the Golden Knights. James Neal, who spent four seasons in Pittsburgh, got his 23rd.
Ryan Carpenter and Jonathan Marchessault scored in the third period for Vegas, which nearly rallied from a three-goal deficit. The Western Conference leaders have 20 wins in their last 28 games.
Fleury, the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NHL draft, spent 13 seasons in Pittsburgh and set team records for games and minutes played, wins and shutouts.
Murray stepped in when Fleury went down on the eve of the 2016 playoffs. He helped the Penguins to the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup and eventually grabbed the No. 1 job. Fleury waived his no-movement clause before the trade deadline last spring so the Penguins could protect Murray in the expansion draft.
Fleury briefly regained the starting job before leaving Pittsburgh when Murray aggravated an injury during warmups prior to the first game of the playoffs. He won nine games and helped eliminate Columbus and Washington before Murray returned in the third round of the playoffs against Ottawa.
The organization put together a tribute video for Fleury that was shown during a first-period stoppage in play. Fleury stood stoically behind his net and rested his glove on his stick as he took in the highlights. The crowd roared in appreciation and gave a long standing ovation to Fleury, who raised his stick in the air and waved to the fans.
Murray took it all in from the other end.
“Those are always fun to watch and they bring back good memories of the last two years, especially a guy like (Fleury), who was a big part of my development,” Murray said. “He was a really good friend and mentor.”
The crowd gave Fleury his first standing ovation of the night as soon as he hit the ice for pregame warmups. A larger-than-normal crowd of supporters gathered behind the visitors’ goal, many holding handmade signs and cheering each time he took the net.
“We knew it was going to happen,” Murray said. “He’s well-liked and everybody loves (Fleury) for good reason. He deserves every bit of appreciation he gets.”
Fleury tapped Murray on the pads during warmups and the two had a short chat while stretching. At the end of warmups, Fleury skated to the red line and took a shot off the pads from Penguins defenseman Kris Letang to the delight of the crowd.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Fleury said. “In the warmup, I had goosebumps. It’s a night I won’t forget.”
NOTES: Pittsburgh won its season-high eighth straight home game. … Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist is week to week with a lower-body injury. Pittsburgh also scratched defensemen Matt Hunwick and Chad Ruhwedel. … Golden Knights forward Williams Carrier returned to Las Vegas to be evaluated by team doctors. The team also scratched defenseman Jason Garrison.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: Complete a three-game road trip Thursday at San Jose.
Penguins: At the Dallas Stars on Friday.
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Zajac has 2 goals and assist as Devils beat Penguins 3-1

By TOM CANAVAN, AP Sports Writer
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Travis Zajac scored two goals and set up another as the New Jersey Devils limited Pittsburgh to a season-low 16 shots in posting a 3-1 victory on Saturday night, ending the Penguins’ four-game winning streak.
Blake Coleman also scored and Stefan Noesen had two assists in helping the Devils win their third straight since returning from the All-Star break. Keith Kinkaid made 15 saves and benefited from a goaltender interference call that denied Sidney Crosby a third-period goal.
Evgeni Malkin, the NHL player of the month in January with 12 goals, scored in the third period. He now has eight goals in his last four games, 15 since Jan. 1, and 29 overall. Rookie goaltender Casey DeSmith made 35 saves for the Penguins, who looked sluggish after beating Washington on Friday night.
Sidney Crosby, who also missed an open net in the second period, had his 11-game point scoring streak stopped. The run is tied for the NHL best this season.
After a scoreless first period, Zajac gave the Devils the lead 30 seconds into the second period after a mistake by DeSmith. The rookie goaltender tried to pass or poke the puck toward the corner and Zajac intercepted it close to the net and stuffed it into the net for his first goal in 10 games.
Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta fanned on clearing attempt near the right circle a little more than two minutes later and Zajac collected the puck. He sent a pass to Noesen, who quickly found Coleman for a shot that got between DeSmith’s arm and body at 3:05.
Malkin got the Penguins on the board early in the third period with a great backhander past Kinkaid that was set up by defenseman Ian Cole.
Zajac got his seventh goal at 9:51, deflecting a point shot by defenseman Damon Severson past DeSmith.
Crosby lost his goal when it was ruled that Bryan Rust skated through the crease and hit Kinkaid in the mask. The blow knocked the goaltender down and allowed Crosby to bank a shot from the corner into the net off the goalie.
NOTES: Penguins F Zachary Ashton-Reese made his NHL debut. … The win ended the Devils’ five-game losing streak against the Penguins, all last season. …. This was Pittsburgh’s first loss in regulation against a Metropolitan Division opponent since Jan. 1 (5-1-1).
UP NEXT
Penguins: Host Vegas on Tuesday night.
Devils: at Ottawa on Tuesday night.
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Kessel, Malkin lead surging Penguins past Capitals, 7-4

By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Phil Kessel scored twice and picked up assist, Evgeni Malkin added two goals and two assists, and the surging Pittsburgh Penguins rolled past the Washington Capitals 7-4 on Friday night.
Bryan Rust, Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who won their fourth straight to pull within four points of first-place Washington in the crowded Metropolitan Division. Sidney Crosby had two assists to push his scoring streak to 11 games, the longest active streak in the NHL.
Matt Murray stopped 29 shots for Pittsburgh, which won its seventh consecutive home game by jumping on the Capitals early then pulling away late.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice to push his season total to an NHL-best 32 and Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetzov also scored for the Capitals, but Washington couldn’t keep pace with the Penguins. Braden Holtby finished with 27 saves but gave up three goals in the opening 8 minutes of the third period before being pulled in favor of Phillpp Grubauer as Pittsburgh broke open a tight game.
The Penguins came in rolling, ripping off an NHL-high nine wins in January to climb from 10th in the Eastern Conference to within striking distance of the division-leading Capitals with still two months to go before the postseason.
The prospect of another potential playoff showdown looms for the longtime rivals, even if the rivalry tends to be one-sided when they meet in the spring, when the series usually ends with the Penguins skating on to the next round and Washington left to wonder how it let it get away once again.
Pittsburgh never trailed and never wavered after the Capitals erased 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits. Kuznetzov tied it at 3 when he flipped a bouncing puck in the slot by Murray 11:57 into the second to give Washington a shot at picking up its seventh victory this season in a game in which it trailed by at least two goals.
Not this time. Malkin put in his own rebound 1:01 into the third to put the Penguins back in front. Ovechkin evened it just 49 seconds later after a slick cross-ice feed from Kuznetzov, but Pittsburgh simply kept on coming.
Rust picked up his third goal in his last two games to put the Penguins ahead to stay, Kessel followed with his second of the night and 23rd of the season to chase Holtby. Malkin finished the outburst with his team-leading 28th of the season, 14 of which have come since Jan. 1.
NOTES: Pittsburgh F Carter Rowney played 9:05 in his return after missing a month with an upper-body injury. … The Penguins scratched D Chad Ruhwedel, D Matt Hunwick and injured F Conor Sheary (lower-body). … Washington scratched D Taylor Chorney and F Jakub Vrana. … Pittsburgh went 3 for 4 on the power play. The Capitals were 0 for 3 with the man advantage.
UP NEXT
Capitals: Host Las Vegas on Sunday.
Penguins: Play at New Jersey on Saturday.
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Dea, DeSmith Shine For Pens Against Carolina

The Penguins returned home from another rough West Coast road trip (1-2-0) and won a key Metropolitan division matchup over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night by a score of 3-1 at the PPG Paints Arena.

After a scoreless first period, the ‘Canes struck first off of Derek Ryan’s 10th at 7:14, but the Penguins responded 49 seconds later with goals by rookies Dominik Simon and J.S. Dea 1:06 apart. The goal by Dea was his first career NHL goal in his fourth game, and after the game he spoke about what was going through his mind during the goal:

(Audio courtesy of the Penguins Radio Network)

Jake Guentzel’s 15th of the season added insurance for the Penguins at 11:02 of the third period. Nine different Penguins picked up a point each during the game.

Meanwhile, Casey DeSmith stayed hot in net for Pittsburgh. The rookie goaltender made 34 saves, and has only allowed 4 goals in his first three starts.

The Penguins return to the ice on Thursday night when they host the Minnesota Wild; pre-game on Beaver County Radio is at 6:30 for the 7:00 game.