The last time these two clubs met was in the season opener in Vancouver back on October 6, 2011. The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Canucks, 4-3 in a shootout. Well, history literally repeated itself Saturday with the same score, same result and same hero. Evgeni Malkin scored the lone goal for the Penguins Saturday as Pittsburgh beat Vancouver by the same score, 4-3 in their 11th straight shootout win at home.
Marc-Andre Fleury slammed the door shut on all three Canuck shooters and the Penguins improved to 7-1-0 overall and 5-0-0 at home.
In a game that went back and forth scoring-wise, Fleury stopped 36 of 39 shots, Sidney Crosby tallied three points and Olli Maata scored his first career goal in front of a sold out crowd at Consol Energy Center.
Malkin, the third shooter for Pittsburgh, skated in on goaltender Roberto Luongo and softly slid the puck underneath the glove as Luongo went down. Fleury then stopped Ryan Kessler’s shot to secure the win.
“I went right side to the net, used a small fake and used my backhand,” Malkin said.
Malkin logged over 23 minutes of ice time, recorded an assist and three shots and appeared to be one of the Penguins’ most energetic players early on.
Maata who has been one of the Penguins’ bright young stars thus far scored the tying goal at 13:12 of the third period, just 22 seconds after Zack Kassian scored to give the Canucks a brief 3-2 lead.
Crosby got the puck off the wall and Pittsburgh capitalized on what turned out to be an odd-man rush once Maata rushed down center ice toward the net, allowing him to pick up the rebound off Chris Kunitz’s shot from the left wing circle.
“It was a good play by Sid and Kunitz and I just tapped it in,” Maata said. “When it’s a 3-on-2 I just join the rush, that’s a part of being a defenseman. I feel like every game I got more comfortable out there and today I felt good.”
Vancouver drew first blood in the first period on a goal by Alexander Edler. It was the first time Pittsburgh gave up the first goal on home ice.
Two minutes later, Crosby tied the game with a rebound off a Pascal Dupuis slapshot from just inside the blueline.
Despite the game being tied after the first period, it looked as though Vancouver was in complete control having outshot Pittsburgh, 15-5.
“Today wasn’t our best game, but Flower shut the door when he needed to, found some ways to get back into the game, then got a big goal from Geno in the shootout,” Crosby said.
The teams once again exchanged goals in the second period. Kunitz scored a power play goal at 7:56 as he beat Luongo short side after Crosby fed him from behind the net. Brad Richardson netted his third of the season for the Canucks at 12:44, which gave his team the momentum throughout the remainder of the frame.
Maata was greeted after the game by Owner/Chairman Mario Lemieux, who congratulated the 19-year old defenseman on his first goal.
“I’m glad he did it. It’s always fun to see guys score their first goal, that never gets old,” Crosby said. “Seeing how happy he was, it was pretty cool and obviously a big goal for us too.”
Pittsburgh is now perfect at home this season where they have won 20 of their last 22 games.
“We’re excited to play here, we’re not going to stop and we’re going to keep going together,” Malkin said.
Despite the injuries to Kris Letang and James Neal, the Penguins offense is still getting it done. They have scored three or more goals in all eight of their games this season and lead the Metropolitan Division (14 points). The Carolina Hurricanes currently lie second with nine points and play Saturday night.
For the second straight game, Deryk Engelland played right wing on the fourth line for Head Coach Dan Bylsma as Dustin Jeffrey and Harry Zolnierczyk were healthy scratches.
The Penguins will continue their home stand against the Colorado Avalanche Monday night at 7:30 pm.
Ekiert’s Three Stars:
3- Chris Kunitz; LW, Penguins- PP Goal, 2 assists, 4 hits
2- Olli Maata; D, Penguins- First NHL Goal, 4 blocked shots
1- Sidney Crosby; C, Penguins- Goal, 2 assists
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