By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Gerry Broome/Associated Press
Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward watches as Penguins forward Chris Kunitz scores the game-winning shootout goal last night in Raleigh, N.C.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Chris Kunitz still has not scored a goal this season.
That means he obviously does not have a winner, either.
Kunitz got a little consolation last night, though. Scoring the goal that gives his team a victory can make a guy feel pretty good.
Goals scored during shootouts are not counted in the official league statistics, so the shot Kunitz buried behind Carolina goalie Cam Ward in the sixth round of a shootout to give the Penguins a 3-2 victory against the Hurricanes at the RBC Center will show up only as a "shootout-deciding" goal.
That's a technicality his teammates seem inclined to ignore.
"He's been contributing in so many other ways," right winger Bill Guerin said. "His shootout goal won the game for us, so he got paid back for a lot of hard work he's been doing."
Kunitz said he is not concerned about going without a goal through the first seven games of the season, mostly because the Penguins are 6-1.
"We've got a lot of wins as a team, so that really doesn't matter to me," Kunitz said.
That doesn't mean he was not eager for an opportunity to end the game last night when coach Dan Bylsma gave him the opportunity.
"When your number is called in the shootout, you try to go out and make a good move, put a puck on the net," Kunitz said. "And it went in."
And, in the process, helped the Penguins make a little history. They have won their first five road games of a season for the first time since entering the NHL in 1967.
There has not been anything terribly spectacular about their performance away from Mellon Arena. They have been methodical and consistent, and it is reflected in their record.
"[The coaches] are very good at just making sure we play our game," Guerin said. "It doesn't matter what arena we're in, what city we're in. We're going to play a certain way."
They did that quite well for the first two periods, building a 2-0 lead on goals by Mike Rupp and Evgeni Malkin.
Carolina rallied on two goals by Ray Whitney, at 4:25 and 10:04 of the third, tying the score and eventually sending it into overtime.
"They came at us hard those first 10 minutes [of the third]," Kunitz said. "We got on our heels a little bit, they were putting pucks behind our [defense].
"We weren't coming out of our zone clean. We rimmed a couple of pucks around [the boards], and they shot the puck toward the net, where it's supposed to go. They went to the tough areas, and they got a few goals."
That, however, was more a credit to the Hurricanes than an indictment of the Penguins.
"They're a talented team," Guerin said. "If there are pucks coming toward the net, they have guys who can get their sticks on them. [Whitney] is one of those guys."
Guerin had a chance to get what would have been the winner 64 seconds after Whitney's first goal, but Ward robbed him with a point-blank glove save.
"He made a great save," Guerin said. "[Kunitz] made a great pass. It was an empty net, and I really hammered the puck.
"[Ward's] arm just came out of nowhere. Something like that, you have to tip your hat to him. It was a great save."
Marc-Andre Fleury made some pretty good ones, too. He stopped 27 of 29 shots in regulation and overtime, and five of six during the shootout.
Before Kunitz scored, Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Guerin, Alex Goligoski and Malkin had challenged Ward in the shootout, with Crosby the only one to beat him.
That changed when Kunitz got his opportunity.
"He played well again tonight," Crosby said. "To do it in a shootout, it doesn't count as a stat, but I'm sure it feels pretty good."
So does completing a 4-0 road trip, even if it meant failing to protect a two-goal lead along the way.
"You take the positives out of it," Kunitz said. "We got two points. We did a lot of things well."
Including Kunitz getting a puck past Ward when it mattered most.
For more on the Penguins, read the new Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Dave Molinari can be reached at dmolinari@post-gazette.com.
Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
First published on October 15, 2009 at 12:00 am
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