St. Louis Blues cool down Sidney Crosby as Alex Pietrangelo makes OT decider over Pittsburgh Penguins
St. Louis did not let Sidney Crosby’s presence on the ice along with Pittsburgh affect their style of play and showed that the National Hockey League (NHL) is a tough place to be as Alex Pietrangelo made the deciding goal during the overtime extension to
lift the Blues, 3-2, over the Penguins, Wednesday night, at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
Unlike his debut performance against the New York Islanders, in which Crosby picked up four points with two goals and equally as many assists, St. Louis proved that they are a team not to take easy by staying focused throughout the match.
"I had a couple of chances and bobbled one and missed a pass with another," Crosby said. "And just whether it was rust or not being ready or focused, whatever it was, that's not good enough."
St.Louis’, Scott Nichol, potted the first of the night and of his 2011-2012 NHL regular season record 5:33 into the opening period.
Both teams failed to pot in a single goal despite the numerous chances awarded to them in the form of power plays throughout the second 20 minute round.
Steve Sullivan added his third of the season and Pittsburgh’s first of the night during a power play advantage only 3:03 into the third to tie the match, but Jamie Langenbrunner’s tie-breaker at the midway mark put Pittsburgh on the edge as they were down
a point in the final minutes.
Fortunately for the Penguins, James Neal scored the equaliser again for the home team, giving the crowd a reason to scream as Evgeni Malkin set-up their second straight goal.
"The first two periods weren't good, no real explanation or excuses," Crosby said. "I think we were outplayed and the third we were much more desperate and got to our game a little more and got our results, but we didn't deserve that one."
St. Louis managed to snap their two-game losing streak but it will be interesting to see if they can take this momentum with them back home to host the dying out Calgary Flames while Pittsburgh has one more game at home against the Ottawa Senators on Friday
before taking off for four straight on the road.
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