League Leading Ducks Defeat Penguins in Shootout
The NHL regular season is winding its way to the playoffs and last night a playoff atmosphere could be felt inside the cozy Honda Center in Anaheim, California,
On Friday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins and star Sidney Crosby made a rare once a season appearance to face the league leaders, the Anaheim Ducks.
The two will play head to head again this season only if they meet for the Stanley Cup in the NHL Finals.
On a third period power play, Evgeni Malkin scored to tie the game and Brandon Sutter scored the deciding goal in a shootout to lead Pittsburgh over Anaheim 3-2, in a matchup of the leaders in both conferences.
Pittsburgh currently is three points ahead of Boston in the Eastern Conference. Anaheim has a lead of three points as well over the St. Louis Blues out West. Overall, the Ducks lead the league with a record of 43-14-7.
Corey Perry had two goals for the Ducks, while Ryan Getzlaf recorded two assists. However, Getzlaf missed the net in the shootout and is 0 for 6 in the tiebreaker this season.
Jonas Hiller recorded 15 saves including a Crosby breakaway in overtime. It was the second consecutive loss in a shootout by Anaheim who lost to the Montreal Canadians 4-3 on Wednesday.
Over 17,500 squeezed into Honda Arena, including a vocal group of fans from Pittsburgh. It is only the fourth game Crosby has played in Anaheim in his 9-year career in the NHL.
Crosby leads the league in scoring but did not have a shot on the nest until the breakaway in overtime. Malkin tied the game at the 11:03 mark of the final period, while there was a delayed penalty call.
Anaheim took an early second period lead 2-1 behind good forechecking.
Anaheim scored first at 3:54 of the first period, but Pittsburgh tied it at 7:46 of the same period.
Crosby and Perry have both been MVPs of the league, scored 50 goals in a single season and winners of the Stanley Cup. It was just the seventh time the two stars have played head to head.
In that matchup, Crosby has netted three goals and handed out four assists, while Perry has scored 6 goals and the three assists.
Pittsburgh has won 5 of the 7 games Crosby and Perry have participated in head to head.
Pittsburgh has not given up a short-handed goal over their past 6 games on the road over a period of 19 shorthanded stops.
Pittsburgh has Saturday and Sunday off and then visits the Washington Capitals on Monday. The Ducks are also off until Monday when they will host the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Crosby has scored 84 points on the season, while Getzlaf has scored 70.
