The Penguins just keep on rolling no matter who is missing from the lineup.
Pittsburgh defeated the New York Rangers, Wednesday night, at Madison Square Garden thanks to a shootout goal from Brandon Sutter in the fifth frame.
With a heavy list of star players missing due to injury and suspension, the Penguins climbed out to a 3-1 lead before seeing it disintegrate late in the third period.
Chris Kunitz broke a scoreless tie with his 18th goal of the season 12:44 into the second period. Sidney Crosby wired a perfect pass to Jussi Jokinen in front who then went cross-ice to Kunitz. Henrik Lundqvist stopped the initial shot but Kunitz continued to jam away at the puck until it slithered into the net.
The Rangers came back and scored less than three minutes later. Carl Hagelin received a pass from center ice and used his speed to blow past defenseman Simon Despres before sliding a backhand shot through the legs of Marc-Andre Fleury.
Pittsburgh retook the lead early in the third period on Pascal Dupuis’s sixth goal of the season. Kunitz sent a cross-ice pass to Crosby who went to Dupuis against the grain. Dupuis didn’t need a perfect shot with Lundqvist down and out.
Just over a minute later, Brandon Sutter scored to extend Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-1. Sutter went one on one with Michael Del Zotto and turned the struggling defenseman inside out before beating Lundqvist with a backhand shot.
New York stormed back with two goals to tie the score late in the third. John Moore threw a shot on net and the puck slipped behind Fleury. Mats Zuccarello stormed in to knock in the loose puck to make it 3-2.
With under two minutes to play, Benoit Pouliot’s one timer went well wide of the net but the puck landed on Derick Brassard’s stick who was able to score from a very tough angle.
The Rangers received a power play when Chris Kunitz was called for goaltender interference but the Penguins stood tall and killed the penalty before forcing a shootout.
With neither side scoring in the first four rounds of the shootout, Brandon Sutter beat Lundqvist with a wrist shot to give Pittsburgh their fifth consecutive win.
- Chris Kunitz has ten goals on the power play this year, second only to Alexander Ovechkin with twelve.
- Marc-Andre Fleury is 41-17 in shootouts.
- Matt Niskanen has not been a minus player since November 9th.
Three Stars
- Sidney Crosby
- Pascal Dupuis
- Mats Zuccarello
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
