Vancouver 6 – Pittsburgh 2
Goaltender John Curry made his first start of the season as Marc Andre Fleury was sidelined with a fractured finger and following a first period goal by Evgeni Malkin (14) at 7:32 of the period, everything went wrong for Pittsburgh.
Henrik Sedin scored a goal and added two assists as the Canucks scored four times in a five minute span, adding five unanswered goals and Curry was pulled in the second period after giving up five goals on 14 shots.
Pittsburgh quickly turned to 19 year old goaltender Alexander Pechurski from Tri-City of the Western Hockey League, who was signed to a one-game amateur try out Saturday morning as backup goaltender Brent Johnson was also not available to play for the Penguins.
It was a nightmare situation for Pittsburgh who didn’t envision having to put Pechurski in the game but the 19 year old prevented the game from being a complete blowout, making 12 saves on 13 shots and earning the games No. 3 star.
Pechurski, who was drafted by Pittsburgh in the fifth round (150th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, was sent back to Tri-City following the game.
For Pittsburgh it was a game of bad defensive play as some of the Penguins most reliable players had off nights. Top defenseman Sergei Gonchar was a minus-4 in the game, while Sidney Crosby and Bill Guerin were a combined minus-6.
Down 5-1 in the second period, Matt Cooke (10) scored his 10th goal of the season at 11:54 of the period. Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy assisted on the goal as Staal finished the road trip with 4 assists in his last two games.
Pittsburgh ended (30-19-1) their five game road trip with a 3-2 record.
Notes: Forward Luca Caputi was a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game. Defenseman Martin Skoula was also a healthy scratch for Pittsburgh.
Canucks winger Alexandre Burrows scored his 21st goal of the season and has 11 goals and two assists during an eight-game points streak.
Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik missed his fourth straight game. However, Orpik is on track to return to the lineup in 3-4 days.
Pittsburgh returns to action Tuesday night against the New York Islanders.