The Pittsburgh Penguins already lost two straight games due to poor puck management and team defense. They ensured there would not be a third result in the same fashion.
James Neal scored and Evgeni Malkin clinched the victory in a shootout as the Penguins snapped a brief losing streak of two games, defeating the Ottawa Senators 2-1, Sunday night. Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves behind a defensive corps that played sharper than they had in a week, despite losing Matt Niskanen in the first period due to injury.
That’s not to say the Penguins protected the puck with perfection; they finished the game with nine giveaways while the Senators had twelve takeaways in what was a sloppy game for both teams. Nevertheless, when a play needed to be made, the defensemen were there more often than not.
Kris Letang stripped Erik Condra of a shorthanded breakaway in the first period. Deryk Engelland and Paul Martin each prevented golden chances late in the game while Ben Lovejoy denied a breakaway in overtime by Jakob Silfverberg. Matt Cooke had a short handed breakaway denied by Craig Anderson in the first period as well.
James Neal scored his fourth goal of the season mid way through the first period. Evgeni Malkin stole the puck in the neutral zone and skated down the side before firing a cross-ice pass to Neal in the slot. Neal’s one time shot from the face off circle to the left of goaltender Craig Anderson, beat Anderson glove side. The Penguins had multiple chances to increase their lead but went 0-5 on the power play and looked extremely lackluster.
Mid way through the second period, Colin Greening scored for the Senators to tie the game at one. As the Penguins were in the middle of a line change, Evgeni Malkin turned the puck over in the offensive zone. Milan Michalek threw the puck into the neutral zone where it would go through Malkin’s legs. Jason Spezza took control at the red line and drove wide on Paul Martin before taking a wrist shot in the face off dot. Fleury made the initial save but Greening swooped in to bury the rebound.
From there, the game started to open up. The Senators missed on an odd man rush leading to a 3 on 1 chance for the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin rang a shot off the post as he was bearing down on Anderson. Guillaume Latendresse had a between-the-legs shot stopped at the goal line by Fleury. Another shot squeaked past Fleury and froze on the goal line before the referee stopped play, losing sight of the puck.
In the shootout, James Neal, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored for the Penguins while Jason Spezza and Kyle Turris scored for Ottawa. Milan Michalek was stopped in the first frame of the shootout and it proved to be the difference as the Penguins snuck by with the extra point.
- Due to the injury to Niskanen, the Penguins played with five defensemen most of the game. Paul Martin logged over 30 minutes while Letang and Orpik recorded 29 and 28 minutes, respectively.
- The Penguins blocked 24 shots, compared to the Senators’ 14.
Three Stars
- Craig Anderson
- Marc-Andre Fleury
- Mark Borowiecki
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
