In what was likely Marc-Andre Fleury's final appearance against his former team, the Penguins halted their four-game slide with a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, March 9th, adding to the Wild's own back-to-back losses. The victory was punctuated by goals from Evgeni Malkin and a pair from Sidney Crosby, ensuring the Penguins left Minnesota with a much-needed two points. The Penguins are back home on Tuesday to take on the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Wild will be hosting the Colorado Avalanche in hopes of not extending their losing streak.
Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup:
Rakell - Crosby - Rust
Novak - Malkin - Tomasino
Dewar - Hayes - Bemstrom
Imama - Lizotte - Acciari
Shea - Letang
Grzelcyk - Karlsson
Kolyachonok - Timmins
Jarry
Nedeljkovic
Minnesota Wild Lineup:
Boldy - Rossi - Hinostroza
Johansson - Gaudreau - Zuccarello
Foligno - Hartman - Nyquist
Trenin - Shore - Brazeau
Middleton - Faber
Chisholm - Spurgeon
Merrill - Bogosian
Fleury
Gustavsson
With three seconds left on the power play late in the second period, Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins ahead 1-0 after a scoreless opening frame for his 13th goal of the season. He got ahold of the puck as he was driving into Minnesota's zone, his pass was intercepted by Marc-Andre Fleury, and Tommy Novak picked up the puck in the left corner before passing it down along the left boards to Matt Grzelcyk. Kris Letang took a pass from Grzelcyk and found Malkin from down low, who was at the right side of the net.
Sidney Crosby put home his 20th at 10:40 of the third period to extend it to 2-0. He took a pass from Erik Karlsson, who carried the puck through the neutral zone and into Minnesota's after Rickard Rakell handed it over to him near the blue line in the Penguins' zone before getting it over to Crosby for a wrist shot from the left circle. Ryan Hartman put one past Tristan Jarry to end his shutout, cutting it to 2-1 on the power play after he retrieved a center-ice turnover for a 2-on-1. From the slot, Hartman fired a wrister into the back of the net for his eighth of the season at 5:06. With 1:13 left in regulation, Crosby recorded his 21st of the season and his second of the night when he scored an empty-netter after Jarry sent the puck down along the right boards where Crosby picked it up and carried it to the net for the 3-1 final.
Marc-Andre Fleury on the feelings surrounding this game/going up against his former team for the last time, Crosby's goal on him, and having any flashbacks throughout this game about his time with the Penguins: "A little bit more sour, I would say to the last one. Both of them scored, G and Sid. I feel like I'm going to hear about this one for a long time. (Sid) still talks about his junior goal he scored on me. I'm not getting away from that one," - "Honestly, I try to not make it too emotional or too much souvenir in my head. I just tried to stay in the moment and play the game. There were not many shots on net, you know, sometimes I felt I had to get into it a little bit. I think it's something I will definitely think about and look back on in the years to come."
Sidney Crosby on what a win like this does for Jarry, his goal on Fleury, and competing against him all of these years: "I think it's huge. Obviously, going back to Wilkes-Barre and working hard there to get the opportunity to come back here, he had a really strong game, looked really poised, and just happy for him," - "That was nice to see that one go in. Hopefully some bragging rights for a while with that one. ...I will remind him of that one many times. - It's fun to compete. He's probably saved a lot more than I've scored against him, but definitely a fun competition there. Having to go against him every day in practice, I enjoyed that. It definitely made me better, and having him as a teammate did too."
Tristan Jarry on how the game felt in general and performance: "It felt really good. It was nice to come back with a win like that. I think that really helps confidence-wise, and at the end of the day, it really helps the team. Being able to beat a team like that, a well-structured team, I thought the team played great," - "We did a great job on the quality and that was obviously a game changer for us."
Notes:
- Tristan Jarry made 29 saves for Pittsburgh, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves for Minnesota.
- This was Jarry's first start since the 14th of January, a 4-2 loss against the Seattle Kraken, and this had been his first win since the 23rd of December. He was placed on waivers on January 15th and then assigned to Wilkes-Barre on the 16th of January. ...In 12 games in the AHL, Jarry went 6-5-1 before being recalled to Pittsburgh on March 3rd.
- This was Fleury's 1,015th NHL career start, which made him pass Roberto Luongo for the second-most in NHL history. Martin Brodeur in first with 1,215.
- Fleury won the Stanley Cup three times in 13 total seasons with the Penguins (2009,2016,2017) after being selected with the No.1 pick in the 2003 NHL Draft. ...In Penguins history, he has the most wins (375), shutouts (44), and best goals-against average (2.58).
- Penguins lost four straight games and eight of nine. The Wild has lost two straight and five of seven.
- Sidney Crosby sits in fourth place in NHL history with 17 career 20-goal seasons with a single franchise. The others are Gordie Howe (22 with the Detroit Red Wings), Alex Ovechkin (20 with the Washington Capitals), and Joe Sakic (17 with the Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques).
- Mike Sullivan is the first coach born in the United States to earn 400 career wins and is the 14th coach in NHL history to reach that many wins.
- PGH: 25-31-10, MN: 36-24-4
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