Sidney Crosby (left) celebrates after a goal by Mark Recchi (right) in the second period against the Dallas Stars last night.
Christensen scores winner against Stars
January 27, 2007
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
DALLAS -- The Stars had the Penguins right where they wanted them -- in a shootout.
One of the best teams in the league when a game goes past overtime was playing at home in front of a sellout crowd. And Dallas was going against one of the worst teams in shootouts.
Two things kept this game from ending predictably.
One was Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who stopped all three shootout shots after stopping 35 of 38 shots in regulation and overtime.
The other was winger Erik Christensen, who has turned into the closest thing the Penguins have to a sure bet in shootouts.
Christensen scored the only goal of the shootout, beating Dallas goaltender Marty Turco on a forehand move to give the Penguins a 4-3 win last night at American Airlines Center.
"Piece of cake, right?" Christensen said, eliciting a roar from a couple of nearby teammates.
"For tonight," he added sheepishly.
Dallas had been 5-1 this season, 17-2 overall since shootouts were instituted for last season. The Penguins had been 1-5 this season, 2-11 overall before last night.
The win gave the Penguins 22 this season, equaling the number they had all last season. With 52 points, they are six shy of their 2005-06 total with 35 games remaining, beginning tonight in Phoenix.
Winger Mark Recchi had two goals for the Penguins, giving him 500 in his career, an accomplishment that earned him a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 18,594.
"It's pretty neat," Recchi said of the 500 goals. "I'm more happy that we came out with a big road win."
Sidney Crosby, who leads the NHL with 74 points, had two assists, proving he can produce in Dallas, where he was shut out in points during the All-Star Game Wednesday.
Crosby nearly ended the game sooner when he bore down on Turco with less than 5 seconds left in overtime, but Turco got his pad on the shot.
Fleury stopped former Penguins defenseman Sergei Zubov on the first shootout attempt, and Christensen followed by beating Turco on the stick side.
After Fleury stopped Jussi Jokinen with a pad save, Crosby buried a backhand attempt in Turco's pads, leaving him 2 for 12 in his career.
Fleury then clinched the win by stopping Mike Ribeiro's forehand.
"He had a good shot, but the puck bounced," Fleury said.
Neither team led by more than a goal.
Zubov gave Dallas a 1-0 lead when his slap shot from the left point threaded its way past Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar and Stars winger Antti Miettinen in front of the crease and past Fleury at 11:58 of the first period.
Two minutes later, Crosby nearly tied it.
Straddling the goal line to Turco's right, he gathered a puck near the rear of the net and swept it behind Turco's skate. The puck slid across -- but never over -- the goal line.
Penguins rookie Jordan Staal's wrist shot from the left dot slid under Turco to make it 1-1 at 8:42.
What was first thought to be a goal by Crosby put the Penguins ahead, 2-1, at 12:08 of the second period.
His wrist shot from the left side eluded Turco, but it turned out that was because the puck changed directions when it went off the skate of Recchi, who got the goal.
Dallas tied the score for the second time, 2-2, at 14:43 of the second period.
Miettinen's pass across the Penguins' zone clunked off the skate of Penguins winger Jarkko Ruutu, catching Fleury off-guard and coming to a stop nearly on Jokinen's stick.
That left Jokinen with an easy wrist shot from the right circle into an empty near side of the net.
Dallas came close -- as in inches -- from taking the lead on a power play in the first minute of the third period.
Fleury went down to stop Stephane Robidas' slap shot from the right point, but the puck trickled under the goaltender and stopped behind him in the crease.
Whitney and the Stars' Eric Lindros barreled toward the crease, but Whitney got there first, throwing himself on the puck as Fleury reached back to glove it.
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(Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721. )
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