After an awful performance in the Stadium Series game against Chicago, the Penguins bounced back to defeat the lowly Nashville Predators.
Pekka Rinne made his debut after missing most of the season with E coli in his hip and looked extremely strong early on. Rinne stoned Chris Kunitz on a one-time shot in front of the net.
Matt Niskanen finally broke the scoreless tie with his eighth goal of the season 27 seconds into the second period. Sidney Crosby went behind the net and found Niskanen planted in the right wing circle. Niskanen’s slapshot squeaked past Rinne on the short side.
The lead was short-lived as the Predators came right back and scored 12 seconds later. Nick Spaling put the puck on net and Patric Hornqvist was able to dig it out from under Marc-Andre Fleury.
Tanner Glass played a major role in the second period but not by scoring. With the Predators on the power play, Glass blocked three consecutive slap shots from Shea Weber.
Matt Niskanen broke the 1-1 tie with his second goal of the night while the Penguins were on the power play. Marc-Andre Fleury came all the way out to the blue line to deny Paul Gaustad from reaching a loose puck. Sidney Crosby took the puck and went the other way. Evgeni Malkin setup Niskanen whose blast found its way past Pekka Rinne.
Chris Kunitz scored with under three minutes to play to put the game away. Sidney Crosby took the puck from the left side and found Kunitz positioned in the middle of the slot. Kunitz’s slapshot was unstoppable as it whizzed past Rinne.
- Chris Kunitz registered his 200th career goal.
- Crosby registered three points for the tenth time this season.
- Marc-Andre Fleury has a league-leading 32 wins.
Three Stars
- Matt Niskanen
- Sidney Crosby
- Evgeni Malkin
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
