Jordan Staal scores twice to lead Pittsburgh Penguins over New Jersey Devils 4-1 -NHL Match Update
Pittsburgh proved a point to the National Hockey League (NHL) on Saturday night, October 22, by winning their third straight matchup against New Jersey Devils, 4-1, at the sold-out CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, which was
that they are not a team to be reckoned with despite missing their top players.
For Pittsburgh, many had lost hope after Evgeni Malkin went out again after playing only two matchups to kick off the 2011-2012 NHL regular season and Sidney Crosby still not being cleared to make his season debut. They lost three straight against Washington,
Buffalo and Winnipeg, but now have shown they can win when they really want it.
"I think Kuny had a great goal to kind of keep us going, put us back in the right direction", Jordan Staal said about Chris Kunitz. "And from then on I felt like we pretty much dominated".
Jordan Staal kicked off the scoring with his fourth of the season during their first added man advantage of the contest with New Jersey losing David Clarkson due to a minor for high-sticking.
The second period passed by slowly without a goal or even a penalty.
Patrik Elias put New Jersey on the scoreboard in the opening two minutes of the third shorthanded, which at the time they thought had put them back in the game, but what was about to unfold a few minutes later, they could never have imagined.
Chris Kunitz scored on a power play nearly three minutes later on another power play opportunity followed by Staal with his second of the contests and James Neal with his league leading eighth nearly midway through to secure the match.
"Staalsy's a guy who flies under the radar with the superstars on this team", Kunitz said. "We know how good he is. He's proven it year after year. Right now, we're missing some guys, and he's going out and proving he can produce the numbers we believe he
can always do".
Penguins play their next game in New York against the Islanders on Tuesday while Devils continue their road trip against Los Angeles Kings the same day.
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