Crosby's goal lifts Penguins past Avs
Sidney Crosby's first goal in seven games helped the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Consol Energy Center on Thursday.
Pascal Dupuis tipped the puck forward to Crosby, who slid a shot through goaltender Reto Berra's five-hole for his third goal of the season to give the Penguins a 4-2 lead with 8:04 remaining. It was Crosby's first goal since Nov. 4.
Pittsburgh (12-7-0) has scored four goals each in back-to-back victories against the Minnesota Wild and the Avalanche after a closed-door meeting that followed a 4-0 loss at the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Colorado (7-11-1) has lost consecutive games after starting its seven-game road trip with three straight wins during which it outscored opponents 13-3.
Forward Matt Duchene's second goal of the game and 10th of the season got Colorado within one goal with 1:23 remaining.
Pittsburgh scored three goals in a span of 2:08 midway through the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit. Forward David Perron began the surge when a shot from defenseman Ian Cole deflected off his back and past Berra at 5:35.
Evgeni Malkin continued his momentum from a four-point, two-goal performance against the Wild on Tuesday with his team-leading seventh goal of the season at 7:04. With Colorado defenseman Francois Beauchemin serving a high-sticking penalty, Malkin one-timed a slap shot off a feed from Kris Letang over Berra's glove for a 2-1 lead.
Chris Kunitz gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead 39 seconds later when he stripped Berra behind the net and pushed the puck to forward Nick Bonino, who centered a pass that Kunitz backhanded through a scrambling Berra.
Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie cut the deficit to 3-2 with a snap shot past Marc-Andre Fleury 8:49 into the third period. Barrie had nearly scored midway through the first period when his shot hit the right post and Fleury's back before trickling along the goal line, but Malkin cleared the puck before Colorado could capitalize
In a first period full of penalties, Colorado took advantage of its third power play to take a 1-0 lead with 25.3 seconds remaining. Duchene collected a rebound of Jarome Iginla's one-timer and took a wrist shot that deflected off the handle of Fleury's stick and into the net.
-- by Wes Crosby for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
20/11/2015 - 04:30
