Crosby spurs Penguins' comeback over Panthers
Last Updated: Saturday, October 24, 2009 | 1:09 AM ET
CBC Sports
There are a lot of ways that Sidney Crosby can beat you.
In his 300th NHL regular season game, the Cole Harbour, N.S., native showed off a few of them, as Crosby scored a power-play goal, a short-handed marker and the shootout winner during a 3-2 comeback win by his Pittsburgh Penguins over the visiting Florida Panthers on Friday.
Penguins backup goalie Brent Johnson stopped all three Panthers shooters.
It was the seventh straight victory for the defending Stanley Cup champions, as Pittsburgh is picking up right where it left off after lifting Lord Stanley's mug last season. The team's 9-1-0 record is tops in the NHL.
"We struggled in the first half, but we were able to rebound," said Crosby, who has 407 career points. "We stuck with things, and that shows a lot."
Florida's Steve Reinprecht gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead with two goals in the first, before Crosby responded with two of his own to tie the game in the third.
The Pittsburgh victory spoiled a solid night by Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun, who stopped 41 shots in total as the Penguins threw everything they had at the Czech netminder in the third period and overtime.
Crosby made Vokoun drop with a few dekes and slid the puck neatly into the left corner for the only goal in the shootout.
Johnson gave Pittsburgh starter Marc-André Fleury a rest between the pipes, and stopped 27 shots for the win.
Vokoun peppered in third
The victory came in the Penguins' first game without all-star defenceman Sergei Gonchar, who could be out for up to six weeks after suffering a broken wrist against St. Louis on Tuesday.
Gonchar missed the first 56 games of last season after getting left shoulder surgery. The Pens were 10th in the Eastern Conference before his return, but went 18-4-4 to close out the season.
Florida has only two wins in its first eight games, going 2-5-1 to start the season. The Panthers have scored two goals or fewer while losing six of seven games.
"The effort's good, but effort doesn't get you two points," Florida defenceman Keith Ballard said. "We were kind of dumb in the third period. We took too many penalties and stayed in our end the whole time ... In the third, they pick it up a little bit and it's almost like we just kind of clammed up just trying to hang."
The Panthers held the defending NHL champs in check in the first period with tight defence and hard work in the corners. Florida outshot Pittsburgh 10-5 in the opening stanza.
Florida was rewarded with a couple of goals in the first, both by Reinprecht. The Edmonton native scored his first of the game at 12:39 when he snapped a shot past Johnson on the power play.
Reinprecht had an easy time scoring his second of the game almost three minutes later. All he needed to do was tap the puck into an open net from two feet out after Nathan Horton's shot from the slot trickled through Johnson's pads.
Pittsburgh pressed in the second, outshooting Florida 14-10, but couldn't get one past Vokoun. The Penguins' best chance came when Crosby hit the outside of the post on a backhand five minutes into the frame.
Crosby finally beat Vokoun at 2:14 of the third while the Penguins were on the power play. He one-timed a cross-slot pass from Alex Goligoski for his fifth of the season.
Vokoun faced a shooting gallery throughout the third, and Crosby broke through again to tie the game with a little over three minutes left while Pittsburgh was short-handed. His shot was redirected by Florida defenceman Rostislav Olesz before it went past Vokoun.
"We were still in striking distance [heading into the third]," Crosby said. "We felt like even in the second half of the second period, we created some chances. Even though we were down 2-0 going into the third, we felt like we were pretty close."
Pittsburgh outshot Florida 21-7 in the third period and overtime.
With files from The Associated Press
