Pittsburgh 5, Florida 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Where: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Referees:
Eric Furlatt, Ian Walsh
Linesmen:
Ryan Galloway, Dan Schachte
Attendance:
18238
By SportsDirect Inc.
Sidney Crosby collected his NHL-leading 28th goal of the season to extend his points streak to a career-best 22 games as the Pittsburgh Penguins skated to a 5-2 triumph over the visiting Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
Rookie Mark Letestu, Matt Cooke and Pascal Dupuis also tallied and defenseman Ben Lovejoy netted his first NHL career goal as Pittsburgh (23-10-2) moved to within one point of the first-place Philadelphia Flyers in the Atlantic Division.
Brent Johnson turned aside 20 of 21 shots before being relieved by Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 15 saves for the Penguins.
Letestu opened the scoring 90 seconds into the contest with his seventh goal of the season.
After Stephen Weiss leveled the contest by extending his point-streak to four games just 73 seconds later, Crosby and Cooke tallied just over three minutes apart to give Pittsburgh a 3-1 advantage midway through the first period.
Lovejoy netted an unassisted tally in the second period to give the Penguins a three-goal cushion, while veteran defenseman Bryan McCabe tallied with 3:36 remaining for Florida (15-17-0).
Tomas Vokoun permitted three goals on 14 shots before being relieved by Scott Clemmensen, who finished with 18 saves.
Top Game Performances
| Florida |
|
Pittsburgh |
|
Bryan McCabe 1 |
Points |
Chris Kunitz 2 |
|
Bryan McCabe 1 |
Goals |
Matt Cooke 1 |
|
Michael Frolik 1 |
Assists |
Chris Kunitz 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Scott Clemmensen .947 |
Save Percentage |
Brent Johnson .952 |
|
Scott Clemmensen 18 |
Saves |
Brent Johnson 20 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Florida
|
37 |
2 |
0-3 |
4-4 |
18 |
27 |
| Pittsburgh
|
34 |
5 |
0-4 |
3-3 |
16 |
32 |
Upcoming Games
-
Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Penguins have a W/L % of .727 after a win and .583 after a loss.
-
Florida will play their next game on the road against Buffalo. The Panthers have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .625 after a loss.
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