PITTSBURGH—The Ducks fight for a big win on the road, but the Penguins third period scoring resulted in a 3-1 loss at Consol Energy Center on Monday night. Anaheim finished a miserable four game road trip without a single win.
The Ducks biggest chance to drop one of the Eastern Conference power teams began in the first where they sought to gain scoring chances at the net outshooting the Penguins 12-3, but with the Ducks lack of offense from all their lines there was little chance of beating out Pittsburgh goalie Marc Andre Fleury. His record has been sketchy as of late, but he had the ability to keep the game scoreless.
The second saw the same result with a twist. This period was Pittsburgh’s chance to take the lead where the Penguins flew through the Anaheimdefense to take 12 shots to Ducks netminder Viktor Fasth who last saw victory October 16. In just his fifth start this season against the Penguins, he took advantage of Anaheim’s vulnerability on defense. Both teams delivered hard hits on the boards, but the Ducks took the harder end of the game that eventually led to their demise.
Pittsburgh center Brian Gibbons who made his season debut scored his first career goal on a pass from Evgeni Malkin who took the Anaheim defense around their zone to set up Gibbons at the crease for the lead. Brandon Sutter made it 2-0, a minute later with a tip in from Olli Maatta’s drive from the far end to give Sutter his fourth on the year.
The Ducks responded 24 seconds later with a goal from Ryan Getzlaf to cut the lead in half with Getzlaf connecting on a wrister while decking out Fleury in front of the net for his eleventh. The Ducks weren’t out of the woods yet with a one goal margin in front of them and no time on their side. It made their scoring chances in the third period more challenging in an attempt to get two points on the road. Sidney Crosby put the game out of their reach with his tenth goal of the season on a wrist shot that curved over the shoulder of Fasth to open the gap that Anaheim wouldn’t cover.
The Penguins gained a point over the Washington Capitals for the lead in the Metropolitan Division before meeting them to settle who holds the lead when it’s over. The Ducks who are still holding the Pacific Division lead are also evened up with the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference. They will try and gain ground on them hosting the New Jersey Devils at Honda Center Wednesday night.
