1/13/15

Penguins Dismantle Wild in 7-2 Win

The Pittsburgh Penguins faced off against the Minnesota Wild at Consol Energy Center tonight. The Wild were desperately looking for a win having lost five consecutive games. Marc-Andre Fleury, who had never won a game against the Wild, got the start for the Penguins and Niklas Backstrom got the nod for the Wild. The Penguins drew first blood at 6:16 of the first period when Zach Sill found Marcel Goc who shot the puck past Backstrom to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Zach Sill recorded his first NHL point on the play. David Perron expanded the Penguins' lead to 2-0 when he went forehand to backhand and tucked the puck past Backstrom at 12:04. After one period of play, the Penguins led 2-0. The Wild cut the Penguins' lead in half when Jonas Brodin scored at 5:12. At 6:40, Wild forward Charlie Coyle was called for a two-minute tripping penalty to put the Penguins on the power play. The Penguins did not hesitate, as Chris Kunitz banged in the rebound at 6:45 after Evgeni Malkin's shot hit the crossbar. This gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead. The Penguins went back on the power play at 9:40 when Erik Haula was called for a two-minute boarding penalty. The Penguins were unable to capitalize. With three seconds remaining in the second period, Penguins' defenseman Robert Bortuzzo was assessed a two-minute interference penalty to put the Wild on the power play. The score remained 3-1 in favor of the Penguins after two periods of play. The Wild started the third period with 1:57 left on the power play. They were unable to capitalize. Brandon Sutter expanded the Penguins' lead to 4-1 at 5:03 with his ninth goal of the season. At 9:08, Paul Martin roofed the puck past Backstrom to increase the Penguins' lead to 5-1. Kris Letang extended the Penguins' lead to 6-1 when he backhanded the puck past Backstrom at 10:56. After giving up the sixth goal, Backstrom was replaced with John Curry. The Wild cut the Penguins' lead to 6-2 when Justin Fontaine scored at 13:57. The Penguins responded when David Perron fired a shot past Curry at 16:39 to boost the Penguins' lead to 7-2. The score held true and the Penguins won 7-2.