After the Pittsburgh Penguins came away as the NHL’s trade deadline winners, Ty Conklin helped them savor their big day with an eye-popping performance.
Conklin made a career-best 50 saves Tuesday night in the Penguins’ 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders – hours after Pittsburgh acquired Marian Hossa from Atlanta.
“I haven’t seen a goalie steal a game like that this year,” Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney said.
Evgeni Malkin and Jeff Taffe scored first-period goals for trade-depleted Pittsburgh, and Conklin did the rest. The Penguins – still playing without an injured Sidney Crosby – were outshot 52-21, including 11-4 in the second period.
“Sometimes shot clocks aren’t indicative of the game necessarily,” a humble Conklin said.
Since coming up in December after Marc-Andre Fleury injured an ankle, Conklin has gone 17-4-5.
“He is probably our MVP since Sid went out, he and Malkin,” Whitney said. “It’s not something we want to make a habit of, though.”
In other NHL games, it was: Edmonton 4, Detroit 3 in a shootout; Carolina 2, New Jersey 1 in overtime; Washington 4, Minnesota 1; Boston 4, Ottawa 0; Montreal 5, Atlanta 1; Dallas 3, St. Louis 1; and Colorado 3, Calgary 2 in OT.
Pittsburgh, one point behind New Jersey for the lead in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division, looks forward to having both Hossa and Crosby, still recovering from a sprained ankle, in the lineup.
The Penguins got Hossa for forwards Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen a few hours before the game. Hossa and defenseman Hal Gill, acquired from Toronto, are expected to play Thursday when the Penguins visit Boston.
“It’s a privilege for us to get help like that and we’re going to be ready to play well and make a long run,” Whitney said. “We’re a good team, but we just got a lot better.”
Frans Nielsen scored on Conklin in the second period to get the Islanders within 2-1. Jordan Staal scored during a delayed-penalty call with 7:05 remaining to restore Pittsburgh’s two-goal lead, and Connor James – just up from the minors – made it 4-1 with 3:02 left on his first NHL goal.
Pittsburgh went 2-for-4 on the power play, compared to 1-for-9 for New York.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played a game where we had this many shots and didn’t win,” Islanders forward Sean Bergenheim said. “The power play was awful.”
Oilers 4, Red Wings 3, SO
Robert Nilsson scored the lone goal in the shootout, giving Edmonton its NHL-record 13th shootout win this season.
Fernando Pisani sent it to overtime on a power-play goal with 28 seconds left in regulation. Tom Gilbert and Geoff Sanderson also scored in regulation for Edmonton, which has won its past five at home.
Hurricanes 2, Devils 1, OT
Sergei Samsonov tapped in his own rebound with 3:24 left in overtime as Carolina snapped New Jersey’s five-game winning streak.
Samsonov finished with two goals for the Southeast Division-leading Hurricanes, who won their third straight and avoided being swept by New Jersey for the first time in 16 years.
Capitals 4, Wild 1
Brooks Laich had two goals and assisted on two others to lead Washington at home. It was the first two-goal and four-point game for Laich, and gave the Capitals their first win in four games.
The win came just hours after the Capitals acquired veteran center Sergei Fedorov, goalie Cristobal Huet and left wing Matt Cooke.
Minnesota, which acquired left wing Chris Simon from the New York Islanders, lost its fourth straight.
Bruins 4, Senators 0
David Krejci scored his first NHL goal, and Tim Thomas stopped 22 shots for his second shutout of the season to lead the Bruins to their fourth consecutive win.
Martin Gerber made 25 saves for the visiting Senators, who acquired ex-Bruin Martin Lapointe from Chicago for a sixth-round draft choice.
Canadiens 5, Thrashers 1
Chris Higgins had two goals and an assist as the Canadiens scored four times in the third period at home.
Carey Price stopped 26 shots and Maxim Lapierre also scored for the Canadiens, who sent goalie Cristobal Huet to Washington for a second-round pick in the 2009 draft.
Stars 3, Blues 1
At St. Louis, Loui Eriksson scored twice and Mike Ribeiro added a pair of assists in a three-goal third period for Dallas.
The Stars, who trailed 1-0 heading into the third period, also got a goal from Jere Lehtinen to win in St. Louis for the first time in five games.
Earlier in the day, Dallas acquired center Brad Richards and goalie Johan Holmqvist from Tampa Bay in exchange for forwards Jeff Halpern and Jussi Jokinen and goalie Mike Smith.
Avalanche 4, Flames 3, OT
Paul Stastny set up the tying goal, then scored the overtime winner as Colorado came from behind to win at Calgary.
Colorado entered with the NHL’s worst power play, but scored the tying and winning goals with the man advantage after going 0-for-3 to start the game.
Add A Comment
THIS IS NOT A GAMBLING SITE – If you think you have a gambling problem click here.
Disclaimer: This site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Individual users are responsible for the laws regarding accessing gambling information from their jurisdictions. Many countries around the world prohibit gambling, please check the laws in your location. Any use of this information that may violate any federal, state, local or international law is strictly prohibited.
Copyright: The information contained on TheSpread.com website is protected by international copyright and may not be reproduced, or redistributed in any way without expressed written consent.
About: TheSpread.com is the largest sports betting news site in the United States. We provide point spread news, odds, statistics and information to over 175 countries around the world each year. Our coverage includes all North American College and Professional Sports as well as entertainment, political and proposition wagering news.
©1999-2023 TheSpread.com