Pens power up late to rout Canucks
Usual suspects Crosby, Malkin and Kessel lead way as Pittsburgh completes Canadian road sweep
Evgeni Malkin scored twice and registered an assist, leading his Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-0 victory Saturday over the Vancouver Canucks.
Sidney Crosby also tallied a pair of goals and Phil Kessel had one of his own.
The win completes a clean sweep for the Penguins on their four-stop Canadian road trip. The club also grabbed victories in Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary.
Pittsburgh netminder Casey DeSmith earned his second NHL shutout, while Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom turned away 30 of 35 shots.
Despite the loss, Markstrom kept his squad in the game with several clutch saves, including in the first period when the goaltender sprawled to make a left-skate save off a rocket from Malkin.
The Penguins opened the scoring midway through the second frame following a patient move by Olli Maatta. The defenceman waited for a chance at the point and fired off a shot that bounced off Markstrom’s pads. Kessel snuck around the back of the net and found the rebound.
Crosby tallied Pittsburgh’s second goal later in the period, collecting the puck in front of the net and putting a backhanded shot past Markstrom. Malkin scored the Penguins’ third and fourth goals midway through the third period 59 seconds apart.
Crosby capped the scoring with just over two minutes to go in the game, firing a slapshot in from the side of the net.
One bright spot for the Canucks in Saturday’s loss was the return of two of the team’s marquee forwards.
Right-winger Brock Boeser had missed two games with a groin injury, while centre Elias Pettersson had been sidelined with a concussion after he was hit by Florida defenceman Mike Matheson Oct. 13.
Vancouver head coach Travis Green had the pair skating together on a line with Nikolay Goldobin for much of Saturday’s game. The trio combined for six shots, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
The Canucks’ loss means Vancouver and Pittsburgh split their season series. Vancouver took the first round Oct. 16 when Boeser scored 34 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 win.
Here’s what else we learned Saturday:
DEKEY PETE’S BACK
Pettersson took less than a shift to make his presence felt.
He sped toward the net in the game’s second minute, made a nice move and drew a penalty as he was taken down on the play.
The Canucks failed to capitalize on the man advantage, but they’d been drawing few penalties without their skill guys in the lineup.
Michael Del Zotto got pulled down later in the first for the Canucks’ second power play. And it was Pettersson who had the best chance, just missing with a quick wrister.
BETTER EFFORT
Green has harped on the importance of everyone playing at max effort for 60 minutes and it was noticeable in the early going against a clearly more talented team.
The Canucks held the shot advantage early and didn’t give the Penguins’ stars too much time and space before the opening goal in the second.
But the Malkin-Kessel combo finally wore them down for the opener. And it was reliable blue-liner Troy Stecher who lost Kessel chasing behind the net on the play, allowing an easy tap-in on the rebound off Markstrom.
By the third, the Penguins were basically toying with the Canucks and the floodgates opened with effortless-looking goals from Malkin, twice, and Crosby.
CASEY DE-WHO?
It might have been a slight that sparsely used backup DeSmith got the start at Rogers Arena, but DeSmith was a DeLight and his numbers in 18 career games are solid.
The Canucks would manage 29 shots on goal but couldn’t put anything past DeSmith.