Sidney Crosby recaptured his scoring touch with three assists to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Friday.
Having fallen behind to a Kaspars Daugavins backhander after 79 seconds, Crosby led the Penguins recovery by starting a four-goal run with a beautiful pass to set up Chris Kunitz to level the scores.
Crosby drew the attention of the defending Senators by faking a shot and then slid the puck to Kunitz, who was wide open in the slot for an easy shot into the open net.
Photo: Reuters
Tyler Kennedy, Steve Sullivan and Evgeni Malkin grabbed further Pittsburgh goals in the first period for a 4-1 lead before Ottawa starting goalie Craig Anderson was pulled after making just four saves on eight shots.
“I think we dominated the whole game,” Malkin told reporters. “Coach [Dan Bylsma] said we needed to play better the first 20 minutes, and we did a great job. We scored four goals and controlled the whole game.”
Kennedy added two assists to match Crosby’s three-point night with Malkin getting two points for the third consecutive game. Pascal Dupuis and Jordan Staal rounded off the scoring for the Penguins.
Jared Cowan and Erik Condra scored the Senators’ final two goals and Alex Auld played well in relief of Anderson making 29 saves.
“They got some good bounces and, unfortunately for Anderson, they went in,” Ottawa center Zack Smith said. “But, at the end of the day, we didn’t show up.”
Crosby scored two goals and two assists in his return to action after missing 61 games with a concussion in a 5-0 win over the New York Islanders on Monday, but was held without a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to St Louis on Wednesday.
OILERS 5, WILD 2
In St Paul, Minnesota, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice to help Edmonton notch their first win against Minnesota in 18 attempts, as the Oilers won to close within three points of the Northwest -Division-leading Wild.
Ryan Smyth had a goal and two assists, while Taylor Hall and Shawn Horcoff also scored for Edmonton, which last won against Minnesota in the 2006-2007 season.
Devin Setoguchi and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored for the Wild, who lost for the first time in six games. Minnesota entered the game with a league-best 29 points.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, STARS 3, SO
In Dallas, Texas, Joffrey Lupul scored in the third round of the shootout to give Toronto victory over Dallas.
Lupul was the lone scorer in the shootout, firing a shot through the pads of Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen. Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson denied Dallas’ Mike Ribeiro in the third round to secure the extra point.
Clarke MacArthur had given Toronto a 3-2 lead at six minutes, 55 seconds of the third period, but Radek Dvorak equalized at 12:47 of the third.
Dion Pfaneuf and Joey Crabb scored earlier for the Maple Leafs.
Eric Nystrom scored twice for the Stars.
RED WINGS 3, BRUINS 2, SO
In Boston, Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi scored in the shootout to lift Detroit over Boston, snapping the Bruins’ 10-game winning streak.
Datsyuk and Valtteri Filppula scored in regulation to help the Red Wings win their fourth straight.
Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron had Boston’s regulation goals. Nathan Horton scored in the shootout for the Bruins, who hadn’t lost for four weeks.
RANGERS 6, CAPITALS 3
In Washington, Ruslan Fedotenko scored twice and Ryan Callahan had three assists as New York set a season high for goals in a win over erratic Washington.
After a scoreless first period, the Rangers scored three times in a 4:18 span in the second.
Marian Gaborik scored his 10th goal of the season to give New York a 1-0 lead. Artem Anisimov and Brad Richards had a goal and an assist each.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin broke a six-game skid without a goal with his eighth of the season — his first at home. It came in the third period, with the Capitals trailing 5-2.
FLYERS 3, CANADIENS 1
In Philadelphia, Claude Giroux scored twice to lift Philadelphia over Montreal.
Jakub Voracek also scored for Philadelphia, which got all of their goals in the second period. Backup goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves for the Flyers and improved to 5-1-1.
Giroux now has 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) this season. He entered the game second in the league behind Toronto’s Phil Kessel.
Petteri Nokelainen scored for the Candiens.
CANUCKS 5, COYOTES 0
In Glendale, Arizona, Vancouver goalie Cory Schneider got his second shutout in a row, needing just 21 saves against Phoenix’s offense.
Vancouver, in their third win in a row, scored three goals in a 2:12 span early in the second period. Ryan Kesler had a goal and an assist. Sami Salo and David Booth also scored in the outburst. Maxim Lapierre and Alexandre Burrows added third-period goals.
It was the most one-sided win for Vancouver and one-sided loss for Phoenix in the young season.
LIGHTNING 2, PANTHERS 1, OT
In Sunrise, Florida, Steven Stamkos scored a power-play goal 2:29 into overtime, lifting Tampa Bay past Florida.
Florida’s Tomas Fleischmann and Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier scored in regulation.
Mathieu Garon stopped 23 shots for Tampa Bay, which snapped a two-game losing streak.
The Panthers still have not won four straight since 2008.
BLACKHAWKS 6, DUCKS 5
In Anaheim, California, Patrick Sharp scored the tying and go-ahead goals in a 2:01 span early in the third period to complete his second career hat-trick, and Chicago rallied for a victory over foundering Anaheim.
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews had two goals and three assists, helping Chicago end a three-game skid and send the demoralized Ducks to their sixth straight loss. Dave Bolland also scored for the Blackhawks.
In other NHL play, it was:
‧ Blues 2, Flames 0
‧ Jets 3, Hurricanes 1
‧ Blue Jackets 5, Sabres 1
‧ Devils 1, Islanders 0
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