Penguins/NHL
Pittsburgh 5 – Ottawa 2
The Pittsburgh Penguins jumped on the Ottawa Senators early and never looked back, defeating the Senators 5-2 Monday for their third straight win and second consecutive home win.
Mark Letestu (4) and Sidney Crosby (4) scored 1st period power play goals and Evgeni Malkin also scored in the period as Pittsburgh led 3-0 after one period and held a commanding 5-1 lead mid-way through the 2nd period, chasing Senators goaltender Brian Elliott from the net.
“We did some good things, ” Captain Sidney Crosby said. “Main thing is that we capitalized on a few chances and that was difference.”
Kris Letang (1) and Pascal Dupuis (1) scored 2nd period goals for Pittsburgh who dominated in all facets of the game.
11 different players recorded a point for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had a goal and an assist.
Mike Comrie recorded 2 assists, his first multi-point game in a Penguins uniform.
Goaltender Brent Johnson made his 3rd straight start and was impressive once again, making 32 saves in the win to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Johnson came up big in the third period to preserve Pittsburgh’s three goal lead and his best save was stopping Mike Fisher with a poke check on a breakaway at the 10:00 mark in the third.
He’s standing tall in there, Sidney Crosby said when asked about Johnson performance in goal. “Positionally he seems to always be there, making some key saves and that’s good for him and we’ll just try to keep it going.”
Johnson has led Pittsburgh to all four wins this season.
Defenseman Sergei Gonchar (1 assists, -3) made his return to Pittsburgh and it’s game a Gonchar will likely look to forget. The veteran defenseman was on the ice for all 5 Pittsburgh goals and was a minus-3 in the game.
The Gonchar era is off to a rough start as Ottawa has been outscored 17-8 while going 0-3-1 on the road.
Pittsburgh’s power play continues to show some life of late, going 2-for-3 in the game and are
7 for 28 in their past six games.
7 for 28 in their past six games.
Defenseman Alex Goligoski notched an assist on Sidney Crosby’s 1st period goal, extending his points streak to seven games.
