The Penguins did everything right to win against the hottest team in the Western Conference except score a goal.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere made sure of that.
The Colorado Avalanche stymied the Pittsburgh Penguins despite being out shot 34-14, in a 1-0 win Monday night at Consol Energy Center.
Marc-Andre Fleury was also impressive, stopping the Avalanche on 13 of 14 shots. The Avs didn’t produce a lot of offense, but when they did, they had excellent scoring chances. Fleury robbed Milan Hejduk on a chance in close late in the third period.
Gabriel Landeskog scored the lone goal 5:26 into the second period. Landeskog released a wrist shot from the right slot and the puck beat Fleury after deflecting off of Brooks Orpik’s stick.
The Penguins went 0-7 on the power play but had plenty of opportunities, all of which were stopped by Giguere. Sidney Crosby, Jussi Jokinen, Chris Kunitz, and Evgeni Malkin were all robbed multiple times by the glove hand of Colorado’s backup goaltender.
After coinciding minor penalties, the Penguins pulled their goalie late in the third to try and knot the score at one. Evgeni Malkin had a one timer from the point but Giguere was there, once again, with an excellent glove save, aided by the lack of traffic in front of the net.
- The shutout was Giguere’s second of his career against the Penguins.
- Sidney Crosby was held without a point for the first time this season.
- Colorado is 5-0-0 on the road.
Three Stars
- Jean-Sebastien Giguere
- Gabriel Landeskog
- Marc-Andre Fleury
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
