Pittsburgh Penguins’ left wing Chris Kunitz (14) gets knocked down by Buffalo Sabres’ defenceman Jamie McBain (4) during the first period of their NHL match at Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh yesterday. Penguins beat the Sabres 3-0.
PITTSBURGH: The Pittsburgh Penguins are still determined to finish as the NHL’s best team — despite a recent slump.
The Penguins rebounded from a loss on Saturday and beat the league’s worst team yesterday as goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots for his fourth shutout, a 3-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres.
Chris Kunitz scored his 26th goal and Deryk Engelland netted his fourth, equaling a career high. Tanner Glass scored his first goal in 26 games, a late empty-netter that sealed it for the Penguins, who won for the 15th time in 16 games at home. Buffalo (14-30-7) lost for the sixth time in seven games.
The Colorado Avalanche ended their three-game road trip and snapped the Dallas Stars’ three-game winning streak with a hard-fought victory over Dallas.
The Avalanche (33-14-5), who finished their road trip at 2-1-0, won the game on a goal from left winger Alex Tanguay early in the third period.Captain Gabriel Landeskog contributed two assists and goalie Semyon Varlamov stopped 41 shots for Colorado (33-14-5).
Tyler Seguin had two goals and an assist for Dallas (24-21-8). Captain and center Jamie Benn (goal, assist) and defenseman Alex Goligoski (two assists) each had two points for the Stars.
Six different Boston Bruins players scored and the Bruins broke open a close game with three unanswered goals over a nine-minute span bridging the second and third periods on their way to a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders.
With their third straight win, the Bruins (33-15-3) broke a tie with Tampa Bay atop the Atlantic Division and avoided being swept by the Islanders in the season series.
Goaltender Chad Johnson made 34 saves for the Bruins while New York goaltender Kevin Poulin made 30 saves for the Islanders (21-26-8) before he was pulled for Evgeni Nabokov, who was activated from the injured list earlier yesterday.
Jordan Staal capped a three-goal rally in less than a three third period minutes as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Eric Staal scored the first two goals of the onslaught, that began with 8:42 remaining, while Jordan Staal’s winner came with 5:55 to play to improve the Hurricanes’ (24-19-9) winning streak to four games. Columbus grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period behind scores from Derek MacKenzie and R J Umberger.
The Blue Jackets (26-22-4) lost their second game in a row after an eight-game winning streak.
Reuters
