The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t have any particular problems against the Ottawa Senators yesterday. Mike Sullivan’s crew defeated the guests from Canada 5-2 and continued its climb towards the tops spot of the Eastern Conference.
Two guys who dominated on the ice were Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel as they had three points each. However, Guentzel had to leave the game due to a nasty hit in the wall midway through the last sequence.
The 25-year old winger would score a goal, but while doing so, he collided with Thomas Chabot and hurt himself. Penguins’ head coach stated that Guentzel’s hit looked pretty terrible when looking from the side.
“It was really scary,” Sullivan said. “Those are always dangerous when you fall that distance from the boards.”
At the moment, he’s been evaluated, and the Penguins would suffer a major blow if Guentzel needs to miss some time playing. After Sidney Crosby, they would now have to play without their leading scorer in this championship, who at the moment has 20 goals and 23 assists.
As for the game itself, Malkin set the tone after 27 seconds, scoring the opener on a 2-on-1 rush. The Russian was inspired throughout the entire contest, and he got two goals and an assist.
Midway through the first, Dominic Simon doubled the lead.
Nick Paul was excellent for the Senators, and he delivered two goals, first of them with a wrist shot 4:21 inside the second frame. However, Malkin responded on the other side, also with a wrist shot at 6:02. The challenge was accepted, and Paul added one more 4:02 before the end of the period, to cut the lead to 3-2. It was a rebound on Connor Brown’s shot.
Yet, the hosts prevented any problematic situations with a score 54 seconds later, when Patric Hornqvist hit the back of the net for 4-2. He scored from near the crease and stopped the swing the Senators were slowly trying to create.
Guentzel sealed the game with 6:55 inside the final period, tapping the puck into the net, along with hurting himself.
This was the 10th win for the Penguins in the last 12 matches, and they look pretty good at the moment. After a bit mild start, Crosby’s injury seemingly woke up this crew. Since he had to stop playing, Pittsburgh recorded 14 wins in 22 events, which is an excellent result.
Also, their performances at home have been superb, and so far, they have 16 wins in 22 games, which is the league-leading.
“Great game for us. We play against a tough team. No power-play tonight. We play hard. Good two points for us,” said Malkin after the match.
Up next, Penguins (24-11-4) are awaiting the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, and after that head, for Montreal to face the Canadiens.
As for the Senators (16-19-5), they have just two wins over the last seven events, but four losses during that span came after overtime, so they collected at least one point. They will meet with the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning at home on Thursday and Saturday, before playing against the Capitals in Washington.
