Penguins Get 13th Straight Home Win, Ducks Hit Team-Record Nine Goals
In a Wednesday night rivalry matchup, the Pittsburgh Penguins (34-12-2) came from behind in the third period to defeat the Washington Capitals (22-17-8), 4-3. Along with the win, it was a record-setting night for the Penguins.
The victory represented the 13th straight one at home–a record for the franchise. The Penguins have now defeated the Capitals six consecutive times, going back to the 2011-12 season.
A look at the standings has Pittsburgh 18 points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers (24-19-4) in the Metropolitan Division and a 10-point advantage in the Eastern Conference.
Olli Maata
The Penguins MVP for the night was rookie defenseman Olli Maatta, who scored the game’s winning goal just with just under two minutes remaining.
During the course of the game, it went back and forth with Washington taking a 1-0 advantage as the game hit its first intermission but by the second period it was 2-2. Alexander Ovechkin, with his league-leading goal No. 34, gave the Capitals a 3-2 advantage but the Penguins Jussi Jokinen came back to make it 3-3 before Maatta got the win.
Taylor Pyatt and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins, along with Jokinen while goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 25 shots and earned his 27th victory. He now leads the league while teammate Sidney Crosby currently has 26 points (18 assists with eight goals) over a streak of 17 games at home.
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said of the win via the Associated Press, “We kept going. We stuck with it there. It’s tough to scratch out and come from behind, but this group is continuing to show we can win different ways.”
The team has now won two straight games and seven victories out of their last nine. Next up for them is the Florida Panthers (18-21-7) on Monday–another home game. The Penguins sit at 13/2 to win the 2014 Stanley Cup.
As for the Capitals, they have lost three straight games and seven of the last nine. They’ll look to snap this losing streak against the Columbus Blue Jackets (22-20-4). The Capitals sit at 33/1 to win the 2014 Stanley Cup.
Ducks defeat Canucks 9-1
The Anaheim Ducks (36-8-5) won their eighth straight game in a big fashion on Wednesday as their nine-goal victory set a franchise record in their 9-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks (24-15-9). The team has now won their last 18 of 19 games–tying a run from the 1967-68 season by the Montreal Canadiens, reported NBC Sports.
And because things happen in threes, the Ducks also had a team-record six power-play goals.
Corey Perry
The Ducks were on fire in the third period as Corey Perry scored two goals and two assists while veteran Teemu Selanne added two goals and one assist. It was an all-team effort for the night as Nick Bonino scored two goals along with Andrew Cogliano, Jakob Silfverberg and Sami Vatanen adding one each.
Goalie Frederik Andersen had 31 saves and Ryan Getzlaf returned to the team’s lineup.
The Ducks sit at 8/1 to win the 2014 Stanley Cup.
As for the Canucks, they got killed in the third period with 58 minutes of penalties. The team’s sole score came from Zack Kassian at the end of the second period. Goalie Eddie Lack started the game but after allowing three goals on just 13 shots, he got pulled for the rookie backup Joacim Eriksson.
Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin said of the game via the Associated Press, “I’ve had a lot of disappointing losses. This was up there, but this was not a 9-1 game. This was not a 6-1 game. They had eight or nine minutes of 5-on-3. They’re going to score when they get that.”
The Canucks have now lost their last seven of eight games. They’ll try to get a win against the Phoenix Coyotes (21-16-9) on Thursday but fall short (-125, 5 o/u).
