Pittsburgh 5, Dallas 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Where: PPG PAINTS Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Referees:
Francis Charron, Kevin Pollock
Linesmen:
Derek Amell, Scott Driscoll
Attendance:
18430
By Field Level Media
Sidney Crosby was dominant in his return from injury, with a goal and two assists Wednesday as the Pittsburgh Penguins won for just the second time in 11 games, 5-1 against the visiting Dallas Stars.
Crosby had missed three games because of an upper-body injury. His line, also including Jake Guentzel (one goal, one assist) and Patric Hornqvist (one goal, one assist), combined for seven points, and Hornqvist set screens on two goals.
Evgeni Malkin and Tanner Pearson also scored for Pittsburgh, which was 1-7-2 in its previous 10 games. The Penguins built a 5-0 lead through two periods.
Pittsburgh improved to 6-0-1 against Western Conference clubs. The Penguins' Casey DeSmith, playing ahead of struggling No. 1 goaltender Matt Murray, stopped 18 of 19 Dallas shots.
Roope Hintz scored for Dallas, which lost its second straight.
Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin, filling in while Ben Bishop is hurt, gave up five goals on 16 shots before he was pulled. Landon Bow, making his NHL debut, stopped all 14 shots he faced.
Guentzel opened the scoring at 3:58 of the first on a one-timer from the left dot off a backhand feed from Crosby.
At 6:06 of the first, Malkin's power-play goal on a shot over Khudobin's blocker made it 2-0.
Crosby's singular effort made it 3-0 at 10:04 of the first. He moved in from the right point, controlling the puck with one hand while holding off defenseman Esa Lindell. Khudobin stopped Crosby's backhand shot, but the Pittsburgh captain darted to the front of the crease, where he kicked his own rebound to his forehand and banked the puck in off the goalie.
Hornqvist made it 4-0 at 3:20 of the second on a rebound from beside the net.
Pearson chased Khudobin and pushed it to 5-0 at 8:52 of the second when he scored on an uncontested slap shot from the left circle.
Hintz spoiled DeSmith's shutout bid by scoring at 7:55 of the third to make it 5-1.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Dallas |
|
Pittsburgh |
|
Roope Hintz 1 |
Points |
Sidney Crosby 3 |
|
Roope Hintz 1 |
Goals |
Sidney Crosby 1 |
|
Mattias Janmark 1 |
Assists |
Sidney Crosby 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Evgeni Malkin 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Landon Bow 1.000 |
Save Percentage |
Casey DeSmith .947 |
|
Landon Bow 14 |
Saves |
Casey DeSmith 18 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Dallas
|
19 |
1 |
0-2 |
2-3 |
6 |
27 |
| Pittsburgh
|
30 |
5 |
1-3 |
2-2 |
4 |
21 |
Upcoming Games
-
Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against Boston. The Penguins have a W/L % of .429 after a win and .385 after a loss.
-
Dallas will play their next game at home against Ottawa. The Stars have a W/L % of .455 after a win and .545 after a loss.