Final
Crosby extends point streak as Pens down Coyotes
Dec 21, 2010 - 4:42 AM Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Sidney Crosby scored a goal and dished out two assists to extend his career-high point streak to 21 games, as the Pittsburgh Penguins dominated the Phoenix Coyotes, 6-1, at CONSOL Energy Center.Crosby has totaled 21 goals and 21 assists during the run and leads the NHL in goals (27) and points (57) this season.
Evgeni Malkin had two goals and three assists for the Penguins, who snapped a two-game skid. Kris Letang had a goal and an assist.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves for Pittsburgh.
"He was playing unbelievable," Crosby said of Malkin. "It's really fun to see a teammate take over a game like that. When he's playing like that, I think he pushes everyone to raise their level. I was just trying to keep up with him and make sure I was there to create things when he was open."
Wojtek Wolski scored the lone goal for the Coyotes, who have lost three of four.
Jason LaBarbera, making his third straight start, turned aside 17-of-22 shots before being pulled for Matt Climie, who made 15 saves. No. 1 netminder Ilya Bryzgalov missed another game with flu-like symptoms.
"This is unacceptable for our group," Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett said. "We'll address some of the issues that we have. That's not who we are right there, and that's not who we're going to be, and we'll do whatever we can to fix it."
Letang got the Penguins going with a power-play goal at the 6:56 mark of the first period. Letang's slap shot from the point beat traffic in front and got past LaBarbera.
Crosby assisted on Malkin's goal with 35 seconds left to extend his point streak. Crosby used a nifty move to win a left faceoff draw before passing to Malkin, whose wrister got past LaBarbera.
Pittsburgh built a 3-0 lead with a power-play goal just 51 seconds into the second stanza. Once again, it was Crosby assisting on a Malkin goal.
The Crosby-Malkin connection struck again on the power play at the 2:50 mark. This time around, Malkin slid a pass in front for Crosby, whose snap shot found the back of the net.
Matt Cooke gave the Penguins a five-goal cushion at the 7:21 mark.
Fleury made 16 saves in the first and five in the second.
Wolski's tip-in at the 8:07 mark of the third spoiled Fleury's shutout bid, while Chris Conner's goal with 1:39 to play accounted for the final margin.
Game Notes
The Penguins won both games against the Coyotes this season...Pittsburgh forward Chris Kunitz returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with an undisclosed injury...The Penguins avoided dropping three in a row for the first time since it went 0-2-1 from October 23-29.
- PHOENIX: 1
PITTSBURGH: 6
Final
Dec 20 9:39 PM - Phoenix Short-Handed Goal - Wojtek Wolski (6), at 8:07.
Coyotes 1, Penguins 5 3rd - 11:53Dec 20 9:10 PM - PHOENIX: 0
PITTSBURGH: 5
End of 2nd
Dec 20 8:38 PM - Pittsburgh Power-Play Goal - Sidney Crosby (27), from Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang at 2:50.
Coyotes 0, Penguins 4 2nd - 17:10Dec 20 8:09 PM - Pittsburgh Power-Play Goal - Evgeni Malkin (13), from Sidney Crosby at :51.
Coyotes 0, Penguins 3 2nd - 19:09Dec 20 8:04 PM - PHOENIX: 0
PITTSBURGH: 2
End of 1st
Dec 20 7:46 PM - Pittsburgh Power-Play Goal - Kris Letang (6), at 6:56.
Coyotes 0, Penguins 1 1st - 13:04Dec 20 7:18 PM - PHOENIX: 0
PITTSBURGH: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Dec 20 7:08 PM
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