This evening the Pittsburgh Penguins (19-15-5) travelled to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks (24-13-4) in game two of a two game home-and-home series. Artemi Panarin continued to give the Penguins trouble as he scored two goals for the second straight game.
Panarin’s winning goal would come off of a faceoff in the third period that slid right through Brian Dumoulin’s legs, and found Fleury’s top shelf. Evgeni Malkin scored his 19th goal of the season during a power play in the middle of the second period. Fleury had another marvelous game, but would end up with his 11th loss of the season after tonight’s 3-1 loss.
Slow Start
Chicago absolutely owned the first period as they looked like a well-oiled machine weaving all around Pittsburgh’s defense. If not for stunning saves by their netminder, the Penguins could have easily found themselves in a multi-goal deficit early in this game.
In a rare switching of roles, Pittsburgh was outshot by 19 tonight. The Penguins would strike back to tie the game 1-1 until late empty netter in the third period by Teuvo Teravainen gave the Blackhawks their final 3-1 win.
Scott Darling, Chicago’s starter in the net, did not have to work very hard in keeping Pittsburgh out of his net. The Blackhawk’s defense was able to continually drive the puck up the ice and keep the Penguin’s stars from doing much with any offensive opportunities.
Panarin came within inches of scoring a hat trick, shooting just wide of a Pittsburgh empty net. The young rookie has continued to put up great numbers for Chicago and was a thorn in the Penguin’s side for the last two games.
Too Little, Too Late
Pittsburgh almost completed the comeback for the second straight night, but will fall a few goals short as Malkin was the only player able to find the back of the net. His slapshot came from the blue line and pinged right off the top of the post to beat Darling.
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Sidney Crosby and the rest of his team began to show some momentum late in the third period, but an empty net goal would all but put an end to this evening’s game. Pittsburgh also scored a power play goal, continuing their recent success with a man advantage.
Chicago acknowledged that they did not deserve to win last night’s overtime win, but certainly earned the victory tonight. The offense was able to put pressure to exhaust and put pressure on the defense.
What’s Next?
Pittsburgh’s will play their second of four straight road games on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Montreal Canadiens.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
