Pittsburgh Penguins Three Stars Of The Game In Win Over Edmonton Oilers
By Larry Snyder
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ offense was hitting on all cylinders as they had three goals in the first period, one in the second, and two in the third Thursday in their defeat of the Edmonton Oilers at home 6-4.
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The victory saw the Black and Gold elevate their record to 39-18-10 with 88 points. Their last win at home was Sunday, March 1 when they downed the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 at Consol Energy Center.
Pittsburgh’s triumph allowed them to sweep the two-game regular season series against the Oilers. Mike Johnston’s squad won the opening matchup Wednesday, Feb. 4 by shutting out Edmonton 2-0 at Rexall Place.
The Penguins remain two points behind the New York Islanders (43-22-4, 90 points) for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The New York Rangers are in first place in the Metro with a record of 42-17-7, 91 points. The Blue Shirts are on a three-game win streak with victories over the Chicago Blackhawks Sunday, the Isles Tuesday, and the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
Let’s take a look at my three players of the game that helped the Pens rally back this evening and defeat the Oilers.
1) Right wing Steve Downie captured the rebound off a wrist shot from center Max Lapierre and scored the Pens fifth goal off Oilers’ goaltender Richard Bachman at 14:38 of the third. It was the 12th goal of the season for the 5-foot-11, 191-pound forward.
2) Right wing Patric Hornqvist had an assist on David Perron’s goal in the first and iced the game for the Penguins by picking up his 23rd score of the season at 15:44 in the third. He was second on the night with eight face-off wins to Sidney Crosby‘s 10.
3) Center Brandon Sutter had two goals in the first frame, one being a short-handed score, and was third in face-off wins with seven.
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Special Teams: Pittsburgh’s penalty kill unit did not please the coaches or the fans as Edmonton managed to go 2-of-4 on the power play. The Black and Gold answered back by going 1-of-3 with the man advantage.
Lunch Pail Crew: Defensman Ben Lovejoy and left wing Blake Comeau led the team in hits with four apiece. Defensemen Rob Scuderi, Paul Martin, and Kris Letang were tied with three blocked shots each.
Box Score Bites: One of the places the Penguins had an edge on the score sheet was in hits 25-21 over the Oilers. The Black and Gold took care of business in the face-off circle 32-29 and in blocked shots 15-13. The penalty minutes were close with the Pens leading just 15-13.
Official Three Stars Of The Game: 1) Crosby contributed one goal and two assists; 2) Sutter was also named the McDonald’s Player of the Game on the ROOT Sports Network; 3) Edmonton center Derek Roy for putting up one goal and one assist.
Up Next: The Black and Gold remain in the Steel City Saturday, March 14 to host the Boston Bruins (34-22-10, 78 points). The Bruins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday 3-2 at home in a shootout.
The two will meet at center ice at 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
From The Clipboard: There was a crowd of 18,662 at Consol Energy Center…Pittsburgh’s scratches for the contest were right wing Craig Adams and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff…Defensemen Ian Cole and Lovejoy made their Consol Energy Center debuts since being obtained by the team…Evgeni Malkin added another accomplishment with his assist on Crosby’s goal –
Malkin became the fourth player in #Pens history to reach 700 points. He follows Lemieux (1,723), Jagr (1,079), and Crosby (839).
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 13, 2015