Just when it seemed a Sutter was going to be enough for the Carolina Hurricanes, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin showed why the Pittsburgh Penguins are the defending Eastern Conference champions.
The name Sutter signifies a bit of hockey royalty, and Brandon Sutter lived up to it by scoring his first NHL goal. For more than 48 minutes it appeared that the Hurricanes would ride that wave to victory.
But these are the high-flying Penguins. Pittsburgh scored twice in less than two minutes for the third time in five home games and snatched the win away, rallying for a 4-1 victory Thursday night.
Crosby and Ruslan Fedotenko scored 32 seconds apart during Pittsburgh’s four-goal third period and Malkin added a goal and an assist.
“We did what we do. We kept working and working and kept putting pucks on the net. When you have guys like Sid and Geno (Malkin), you know it’s going to go in,” said Max Talbot, who also scored in the third. “It was a pretty intense and pretty good period for us.”
Dallas 5, the New York Islanders 3; Toronto 4, Boston 2; Calgary 5, Nashville 3; Buffalo 4, Minnesota 3 in overtime; Colorado 4, Edmonton 1; and Phoenix 2, Washington 1.
Sutter scored off a Pittsburgh giveaway to put Carolina up 1-0 in the first – a lead that held up for nearly 2 1/2 periods. Sutter, a 2007 first-round draft pick and the son of New Jersey Devils coach Brent Sutter, is the ninth member of the Sutter family to play in the NHL.
The 19-year-old Sutter grabbed the puck after Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik whiffed on a pass and, skating in from the blue line, beat Marc-Andre Fleury on a backhander at 13:07 of the first to score unassisted.
“It’s nice to get the first one for sure – I had a few chances the first couple of games,” Sutter said. “I kind of jumped on it and had a step on him and wanted to get the shot off and not do anything fancy. It was a good feeling.”
It didn’t last.
Crosby scored his second goal in seven games by redirecting a shot that knuckleballed on its way to the net. Fedotenko scored his first for Pittsburgh on the following shift off a pass by Jordan Staal, the brother of Carolina star Eric Staal.
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Talbot stretched the lead to 3-1 at 11:51 of the third with his first and Pittsburgh’s third goal in less than four minutes. Malkin scored into an empty net, his third, in the final minute.
“We kind of wore them down a bit with the pressure we had and finally got some really good chances,” Crosby said.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves and improved to 4-2-1 for the Penguins, who won their third in a row.
Maple Leafs 4, Bruins 2
At Boston, Anton Stralman scored with 9:14 left to break a third-period tie, and Vesa Toskala stopped 26 shots as Toronto snapped a five-game losing streak.
Mike Van Ryn and Nik Antropov also scored for Toronto, which had lost twice in regulation and three times in shootouts since opening the season with a victory over Stanley Cup champion Detroit.
Patrice Bergeron scored his first goal in over a year after missing all but 10 games last season due to a severe concussion and broken nose. Blake Wheeler scored 31 seconds later to give Boston a 2-0 lead late in the first period, but the Maple Leafs came back with four straight goals.
Stars 5, Islanders 3
At Uniondale, N.Y., Mike Ribeiro had a goal and a career-high five points in Dallas’ victory over the host New York Islanders.
o scored for the Stars, who went 2-1 against the three New York-area teams this week. Dallas beat the Rangers 2-1 on Monday and lost 5-0 at New Jersey on Wednesday.
Marty Turco rebounded from a bad night by stopping 24 shots.
Bill Guerin, Mark Streit and Jon Sim scored for the Islanders, who have allowed 12 goals in their last two home games. Rick DiPietro made 24 saves in his second straight and first at home.
Sabres 4, Wild 3, OT
At St. Paul, Minn., Derek Roy scored 44 seconds into overtime and Buffalo rallied from a late two-goal deficit to beat Minnesota.
Drew Stafford, Adam Mair and Thomas Vanek scored for Buffalo, 6-0-1 this season.
Benoit Pouliot, Stephane Veilleux and Brent Burns had goals for the Wild.
With the Sabres trailing 3-1, Adam Mair and Thomas Vanek scored 46 seconds apart late in regulation to force overtime.
Flames 5, Predators 3
At Nashville, Tenn., Jarome Iginla scored three goals, and Dion Phaneuf set up two others for Calgary.
Greg Zanon, Jordin Tootoo and Jason Arnott scored for the Predators.
David Moss and Michael Cammalleri had the other Flames goals.
Avalanche 4, Oilers 1
At Denver, Ian Laperriere scored his first goal of the season, Peter Budaj stopped 25 shots, and Colorado won its fourth straight.
and Cody McLeod added goals for the Avalanche, the highest-scoring team in the NHL.
Shawn Horcoff scored the Oilers’ lone goal, his third of the season. The Oilers have dropped two straight after a 4-0 start.
Coyotes 2, Capitals 1
At Glendale, Ariz., Mikkel Boedker and Peter Mueller scored four minutes apart early in the third period and Phoenix rallied to beat Washington.
Mikael Tellqvist made 31 saves in his first start of the season for the Coyotes, who are 2-0 at home for the first time since 2000. Phoenix snapped a three-game losing streak.
Brooks Laich scored the lone goal for the Capitals, who have lost two straight.
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