Penguins remain perfect at home, down Oilers 3-2 on Tuesday
By Larry Snyder
Oct 15, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) handles the puck against the Edmonton Oilers during the second period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Pens won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Penguins picked up their second consecutive win on Tuesday night when they defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 at Consol Energy Center.
The Penguins moved to 4-0 at home this season, and their latest win was capped when Evgeni Malkin scored his second goal of the young season on the power play at 7:20 of the third period to give them lead for good.
After defenseman Paul Martin fanned on a shot at the point on the power play, the puck slid to Malkin, who was all alone in the faceoff circle on one knee, and he sent a shot past Oilers goaltender Jason LaBarbera. Pittsburgh held on after that to improve to 5-1-0, good for first place in the new Metropolitan Division.
Sidney Crosby had three assists on the night and now leads the NHL in points with 12. The captain has scored a point in each of Pittsburgh’s first six games, which matches his longest point streak to begin a season. The last time he began the season with a six-game point streak was in October 2005.
Right wing Pascal Dupuis got the scoring started for the Pens in the first period with his second goal of the season. Dupuis went five-hole with a wrist shot on LaBarbera off a pass from Crosby at 3:08.
Edmonton right wing Ales Hemsky brought the game even at 1:39 into the second period when his wrist shot found the back of the net on Pens’ goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Left wing Chris Kunitz tipped the balance back to the Penguins with his second goal of the season as the puck bounced off LaBarbera’s glove with help from Crosby at 9:40 of the second period.
Oilers right wing Jordan Eberle tied it up at 15:59 of the second period with his second goal of the season when his backhand shot off the feed from Taylor Hall got past a sprawled Fleury.
The Pens’ defense played well in front of Fleury in the third period, allowing only three shots on goal. Fleury, who made a handful of spectacular saves early on, stopped 20 of 22 shots while LaBarbera was 25 of 28 between the pipes for the Oilers.
The Penguins head across the state to Philadelphia to take on the last-place Flyers (1-6-0) on Thursday. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center. The game will be broadcast on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh and across the U.S. on the NHL Network. The Vancouver Canucks beat the Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
From The Clipboard: Pittsburgh right wing Beau Bennett and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo were the healthy scratches…Crosby won 10 of his 20 faceoffs while Brandon Sutter won 7 of 12…Tuesday night’s game was the first of two meetings this season for the Oilers and Penguins. The last time they faced each other was more than two years ago back on Oct. 9, 2011. Edmonton prevailed in that one 2-1 at Rexall Place…Pittsburgh’s penalty kill remained perfect on the season by stopping all three of the Oilers’ power plays.