Penguins/NHL
Pavol Demitra scored twice, Daniel and Henrik Sedin had three points each as the Vancouver beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 Saturday afternoon at Mellon Arena. The Penguins came into the game winning 7 of 8 but failed to generate much offense against the Canucks tight defensive system. Pittsburgh only had 11 shots through two periods. Mike Zigomanis scored the Penguins only goal 22 seconds into the third period. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby were each held scoreless for the second time in three games. Defenseman Phillipe Boucher led the Penguins with 26:17 minutes of ice time.
Twenty-five seconds into the game, Matt Cooke threw a hip check on Alexander Edler that started a mini-brawl that included two fights and two ejections. Jannik Hansen and Matt Cooke were ejected. Full analysis in the morning
From earlier
The Pittsburgh Penguins (12-4-3-27) off to their second best start in club history face off against the Vancouver Canucks (12-6-2-26) this afternoon at Mellon Arena. The Penguins winners in seven of their last eight games are three points behind the division leading New York Rangers who have three games in hand. The Canucks play a tight defensive system and are 7-1-2 in their last ten games. Forward Henrik Sendin leads the team with 18 points and goaltender Roberto Luongo is off to a 11-5-2 start with a 2.18 G.A.A.
The Penguins have made a few line changes. Pascal Dupuis has been bumped up to the first line with Sidney Crosby and Miroslav Satan while forward Ruslan Fedotenko will play on the fourth line with Mike Zigomanis and Eric Godard
