Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Jordan Staal had a pair of short-handed
goals, one on a penalty shot, to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-3 win
over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Mellon Arena.
Sergei Gonchar and Michel Ouellet each had a goal and an assist for the
Penguins, who have won their last two games. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36
shots in the contest.
Rookie phenom Evgeni Malkin had a goal and has scored in all three games he
has played for Pittsburgh thus far.
Nikolai Zherdev had a goal and an assist and Fredrik Norrena stopped 29 shots
for the Blue Jackets, who have dropped their last three games.
The Penguins grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to a pair of power
play goals.
With Adam Foote in the box for tripping, Gonchar unleashed a slap shot from
the left point that Ouellet tipped in just 2:03 into the game.
Skating on the man advantage again, Ryan Malone snapped a shot from the low
left side that Norrena made a save on. The puck bounced out front and Mark
Recchi tipped it to Gonchar, who slapped it into the left corner of the net at
the 7:51 mark.
The Blue Jackets, though, cut their deficit in half with a power play goal
with 2:25 left in the first. Gilbert Brule took a drop pass at the top of the
blueline, skated to the right circle and snapped a wrister under the glove of
Fleury for his first goal of the season.
There were a total of 13 minor penalties called in the first period.
Columbus tied the game with a goal as a power play expired. Anson Carter had
the puck behind the net and centered it to Fredrik Modin, who from the low
slot one-timed it by the left pad of Fleury at the 7:58 mark of the second.
Staal gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead with his second goal of the season, a
short-handed marker, with 5:17 left in the second.
"I just try to take advantage of opportunities and capitalize on them," said
Staal. "I think I've been playing well enough."
Pittsburgh's two young superstars hooked up to give their team a 4-2 lead.
Sidney Crosby brought the puck into the Columbus zone on the rush and stopped
at the right circle. He spotted Malkin cutting into the slot and hit the
Russian with the puck and Malkin fired it into the left corner of the net at
the 7:04 mark of the third period.
"They are two stud hockey players no doubt about it and they look for each
other out there," said Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant.
Staal was awarded a penalty shot when he was hooked on a breakaway and he
snapped a shot that hit off the left post, but it banged off of the back of
Norrena and went into the net for a 5-2 lead just 45 seconds after the Malkin
goal.
Zherdev notched a power-play goal with 4:35 left in the game for the final
score of the contest.
