If this was James Neal’s idea of a tuneup game before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Penguins should be in excellent shape.
Neal missed eight games with a concussion after getting elbowed in the head by Michael Del Zotto on April 5th. Sporting a new tinted visor, Neal scored a hat trick as the Penguins ended the 2013 truncated regular season on a high note with an 8-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jussi Jokinen scored two goals to haunt his former team while Evgeni Malkin added a goal and two assists. Jordan Staal, playing in his first game at Consol Energy Center as a visitor, had an assist for the Hurricanes in the loss. The Penguins gave Staal a tribute for his services in Pittsburgh, resulting in a standing ovation from the crowd.
Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring midway through the first period with a power play goal. Marc-Andre Fleury sent a long pass to James Neal who drove down the right side. Malkin received the puck from Neal, made a move around Nicolas Blanchard, and buried a shot past Jason Peters.
James Neal scored four minutes into the second period to extend the lead to two. Chris Kunitz kept the puck alive in the offensive zone and sent it to Kris Letang. Letang found Neal in the high slot who wired a perfect wrist shot over Peters’s left shoulder.
But the Hurricanes came back strong.
After Peters made a nice save on a two on one rush, Eric Staal took the puck at the blue line and skated in on a breakaway. Marc-Andre Fleury made the stop on Staal but couldn’t control the puck. Kevin Westgarth swooped in to score his second career goal into a wide open net.
After Jussi Jokinen scored to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead, the Hurricanes responded with two goals within 35 seconds to tie the game. After Eric Staal’s shot went over the net, Jordan Staal threw the puck towards the goal where Tuomo Ruutu went top shelf for the goal.
The Hurricanes won an offensive zone face off and Westgarth’s shot from the right point bounced off a defenseman in front and in the goal.
With a 3-3 score heading into the third period, the Penguins looked very much in danger of losing their third straight game for the first time all season. But the Penguins responded with five unanswered goals to put an exclamation point on their season.
Neal added his second goal, shooting the puck off the far left post and in the net on the power play.
Three minutes later, Neal finished off his hat trick. Evgeni Malkin led a two on one rush and feather a pass to Neal who buried the shot into a wide open cage.
Brandon Sutter sent a backhanding centering pass and Brandon Morrow finished off the play with his sixth goal as a Pittsburgh Penguin.
Matt Cooke and Jussi Jokinen scored in the final minutes of the game to defeat the Hurricanes 8-3.
The Penguins still do not know who their opponent will be in the first round. The Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators will play their last games of the season tomorrow. If the Senators gain a point, the Penguins will play the New York Islanders; a Senators’ regulation loss will mean a first round matchup with them.
- James Neal has three career hat tricks.
- Paul Martin added an assist in his first game back since breaking his wrist on March 28 agains the Winnipeg Jets.
- The Penguins will finish with a league leading 165 goals.
Three Stars
- James Neal
- Evgeni Malkin
- Jussi Jokinen
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
