With the wolves of change nipping at their heels, the Pittsburgh Penguins circled the wagons at the Consol Energy Center on Thursday night and slammed the door on an ugly 0-3 start with an impressive 2-0 victory over Ottawa.
The turnaround was as stunning as it was unexpected. And most welcome.
Everyone contributed. The black and gold got strong play from all four lines. The David Perron-Evgeni Malkin-Patric Hornqvist troika was a force, unleashing 13 shots. The revamped third line, with newcomer Kevin Porter and rookie Daniel Sprong subbing for Sergei Plotnikov (healthy scratch) and Beau Bennett (injury) played extremely well. Led by Nick Bonino, the penalty killers snuffed out three Ottawa power plays. Between the pipes, Marc-Andre Fleury benefited from vastly improved team defense and attention to detail to stop 22 shots for his 39th career shutout.
Perhaps most important, the Pens competed for a full 60 minutes, something they failed to do during the languid season-opening losses. They pressured Ottawa from the outset. They won puck battles. And they got big second-period goals from Malkin—his first in 14 regular-season games (19 counting last season’s playoffs)—and Sprong, who gathered in a pretty feed from Matt Cullen and ripped the puck past goalie Craig Anderson from the slot for his first NHL tally.
Granted, it was only one game. And the Sens—playing their second road game in two nights—are hardly the second coming of Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers. Still, it was a huge win.
Enough to keep those wolves at bay. At least for a time.
Ice Chips
Defenseman Adam Clendening played his first regular-season game with the Pens, replacing veteran Rob Scuderi (healthy scratch). Slotted beside Olli Maatta on the second defensive pairing, the Niagara Falls native played 13:16 minutes and was a plus-1. Clendening also drew two minor penalties…Bryan Rust was recalled from Wilkes-Barre. He joined Cullen and Bobby Farnham on the fourth line. Farnham fought Mark Borowiecki at 9:36 of the third period…Sidney Crosby has yet to record a point through four games. The Pens captain registered three shots in 19:22 minutes of ice time against Ottawa and won 65 percent of his faceoffs…No word as of yet on the nature or severity of Bennett’s injury.
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