By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Niklas Larsson/Associated Press
Tyler Kennedy circles the Ottawa net after beating Senators goalie Martin Gerber for the winning goal in overtime of the Penguins' season opener yesterday in Stockholm, Sweden.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- One had a goal drought that left a fire in his belly all summer. The other has a goal deficiency, one he carries around without much thought.
The Penguins' Tyler Kennedy and Rob Scuderi picked the same night to bust out of those droughts, and it spoiled the party this city threw around the appearance of one of Sweden's own.
Ottawa winger Daniel Alfredsson, the only native Swede on either roster, didn't have a point and watched from just behind as linemate Jason Spezza turned the puck over in overtime to set up Kennedy's winner as the Penguins opened their regular season with a 4-3, comeback victory at Globe Arena.
"I worked hard this summer. When I work hard in the summer, I build confidence," Kennedy said. "A lot of my goal this year is just to try to get as many pucks on net as I can."
He moved from center to right wing on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal because Petr Sykora was out with a groin injury and parlayed that comfort level into two goals on two shots. He went the final nine regular-season games and all 20 playoff games as a rookie last season without one.
He opened the scoring 40 seconds into the game on a wrist shot from the left circle and closed the scoring with another wrist shot past Senators goaltender Martin Gerber at 4:35 of overtime.
In between, the Penguins blew several chances to open the game in their favor. Most notably, they were 0 for 7 on the power play and gave up a shorthanded, go-ahead goal by Spezza, with all of those chances coming in the first two periods.
That's why they trailed, 3-2, going into the third period, with Ottawa sitting on 1:25 of a five-on-three power play.
The Penguins not only killed that and the ensuing 30 seconds of a five-on-four Ottawa power play, but also got shorthanded chances from Max Talbot and Sidney Crosby.
"We could have killed the game there, but we couldn't make any sharp passes," Alfredsson said, referring at least in part to ice that both teams called choppy.
Two minutes after the teams were back to full strength, at 3:56, the Penguins got a surprise when Scuderi, a prototypical defensive defenseman, scored his first goal since Feb. 16, 2007, a span of 95 games, or 120 if you count the playoffs.
"That was a long shot, eh?" coach Michel Therrien said, with a hearty laugh. "We were not expecting that one."
Niklas Larsson/Associated Press
Sidney Crosby helps clear the traffic near the Penguins' goal, taking out Ottawa's Antoine Vermette in the third period of game yesterday in Stockholm.
Against what would normally be his better judgment, Scuderi pinched in as Crosby, along the right boards, drew a crowd. Crosby threaded a pass through several Senators skates, leaving Scuderi to punch it home on the far side from the left circle.
"Sid's pass? Yeah, it was pretty good," Scuderi cracked. "No, obviously, the play was all Sid."
Joining the rush is foreign to Scuderi.
"Sometimes, it's a little scary," he said. "An alarm goes off in my head sometimes when I'm below the top of the circles, but I knew we had [an advantage in] numbers, and Sid always makes a lot of plays.
"At that point, I knew I was going to shoot it. He moved everybody over to his side and slid it over. It was a great play by him. I'm fortunate to get one."
And the Penguins were fortunate to pull out the game, considering the lack of production on 12:32 of power-play time.
Therrien switched personnel some -- particularly, Staal and Ruslan Fedotenko alternated between the first and second units in the role of the forward in front of the net -- as the Penguins try to overcome the loss to injury of its quarterback at the point, Sergei Gonchar, and work new players into the mix.
The power play got some movement and space, but couldn't generate a lot of quality chances.
"We need more shots," Crosby said. "But Ottawa is a good first-game test, too. They have a great penalty-kill. They give a lot of teams trouble. But there's no doubt we need to do better."
It wasn't a lost night on special teams for the Penguins. Malkin took advantage of a turnover at Ottawa's left point for a shorthanded breakaway and slid the puck under Gerber for a 2-1 lead at 3:18 of the second period.
Dany Heatley got that back for Ottawa when -- with Eric Godard in the penalty box for hooking Chris Neil -- he shoveled the puck around Malkin and past the glove of Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at 12:15 of the second period.
Spezza gave Ottawa its final lead, 3-2, at 17:55 of the second period when he drove the right side and, after defenseman Kris Letang committed and went to the ice, lifted the puck over Fleury's glove.
Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.
First published on October 5, 2008 at 12:00 am
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