Pittsburgh Penguins beat the lowly Carolina Hurricanes in shootout – NHL Recap
Evgeni Malkin scored in the first period to provide an equaliser and then successfully utilised his chance in the shootout as Pittsburgh Penguins got their third straight win after defeating the lowly Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, in the National Hockey League
(NHL) game on Tuesday, January 17, 2012, at the CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh.
Following a six-game losing streak, the Penguins have done well to maintain a winning run. This victory also snapped their three-game losing streak on home-ice.
In the last five games, Malkin has scored six goals and managed two assists. No wonder coach, Dan Bylsma, is pleased.
"In terms of playing in the offensive zone, playing with the puck, defensively, on faceoffs – he has a lion's share of the responsibilities in a lot of areas and he's certainly playing outstanding," Bylsma said of Malkin. "When you see him go down and block
a shot (late in the game), I was hoping he would go back the other way and get the game-winner."
Penguins’ goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, made 25 saves in the regulation and stopped two shots in the shootout.
On the other hand, Hurricanes’ goalie, Cam Ward, was also very impressive. He registered 40 saves in the regulation, but allowed two goals in the shootout, which decided the game.
Jamie McBain, who scored the first goal of the game to put the Hurricanes in charge, regretted over the loss and mentioned after the game that that it was hard to come this far and lose the game.
"It's a tough pill to swallow," he said. "You know, once again we're feeling good about our game and we've just got to keep fighting and eventually the results will turn."
McBain struck a goal early in the first period. At 2:11, he collected the puck from Jussi Jokinen, who had sent the pass from a corner. While the puck was still in its way, McBain skated forward and used the momentum to fire a shot that gave him a goal.
Later at 18:38 in the same period, the Penguins neutralised the lead.
Malkin collected a pass and fired a shot from the right red circle. Ward stopped the puck, which was rebounded off to Malkin once again. Instead of just striking the puck this time, he moved forward to create room for himself and chipped it into the net
to level the scores.
The next two periods and overtime went goalless, forcing the game to the shootout.
Malkin came first for the Penguins and scored a goal.
Jokinen, who had earlier provided an assist in the goal, scored for the Hurricanes taking the shootout score to 1-1.
Ward and Fluery successfully protected their respective net in the next attempt.
However, James Neal managed to beat Ward and put the Penguins in front with the Hurricanes still having a chance to equalise.
Eric Staal came to take shot, but Fluery blocked his attempt giving the decisive edge to the Penguins.
The Penguins will now play against New York Rangers on Thursday, January 19, while the Hurricanes will face Washington Capitals on Friday.
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