The Pittsburgh Penguins have been nearly invincible at home this season, posting a 16-3-0 record and Thursday night’s matchup against the Minnesota Wild proved exactly why.
The Penguins dominated the Wild for most of the night leading to a 5-2 victory to move the win streak to six straight.
It was a night for homecomings at Consol Energy Center. James Neal returned from a five game suspension and Matt Cooke returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since last season. The Penguins honor Cooke with a tribute on the scoreboard which drew generous ovation from the crowd.
Pascal Dupuis scored 49 seconds into the opening period to give the Penguins the lead. Niklas Backstrom’s save produce a rebound that was batted out of the air by Sidney Crosby. The shot didn’t look like much but it gave the goaltender fits as Backstrom failed to corral the puck. Dupuis converged on the net and whacked away at the puck until the red light came on.
Brandon Sutter added his eighth goal of the season early in the second period. Olli Maatta’s shot was knocked down in front of Sutter who spun around and fired a shot that went around Backstrom as he was falling.
Less than two minutes later, Matt Niskanen added a power play goal to extend the lead to 3-0 Pittsburgh. Niskanen’s slap shot from the left point hit the top left corner of the bar and went in.
Midway through the second period, Sidney Crosby found Chris Kunitz streaking to the net for his 19th goal of the season.
The Penguins struggled to hold their 4-0 lead as the Wild made the game interesting in the third period. After Jason Pominville scored midway through the second period, and Dany Heatley added his seventh early in the third period to cut the lead to 4-2, the Wild had a long 5 on 3 opportunity.
Jeff Zatkoff made several key saves on Zach Parise while on the power play. The Penguins were able to clear the zone as Olli Maatta came out of the box and the rookie defenseman took the puck in stride on his way to the net. Maatta was hauled down in front of the Minnesota net which set up a penalty shot.
Maatta made several moves before beating Backstrom with a shot that trickled through the goaltender.
- Olli Maatta is the second Penguin defenseman to score a goal on a penalty shot.
- Pittsburgh has scored in the first minute of their last three home games.
- Jeff Zatkoff has won six straight games.
Three Stars
- Olli Maatta
- Matt Niskanen
- Pascal Dupuis
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
