PITTSBURGH (AP) – Bryan Rust had his first career hat trick, Sidney Crosby added his NHL-leading 17th goal and the Pittsburgh Penguins raced by the Ottawa Senators 8-5 on Monday night.
Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel each had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, and Matt Cullen and Justin Schultz also scored. The Penguins poured in six goals over the final 32 minutes after spotting the Senators a 4-2 lead. Matt Murray made 17 saves after coming in for an ineffective Marc-Andre Fleury in the second period.
Pittsburgh has won three straight overall and improved to 7-0-2 in its last nine against the Senators.
Matt Stone had a goal and two assists for Ottawa. Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone and Dion Phaneuf also scored for Ottawa, which lost in regulation for just the second time in its last eight games.
Craig Anderson spent most of the night under siege by the Penguins and stopped 36 of the 43 shots he faced before being pulled following Rust’s successful penalty shot 12:36 into the third.
The Penguins have made a habit of falling behind by two goals only to scramble back. Their victory marked the 13th time since Mike Sullivan took over as coach last December that they trailed by two only to rally and win. It’s not the path Sullivan would prefer. Earlier in the day he insisted his team can’t just turn on a switch to get things going.
It only seems like that at times.
The Senators chased Fleury when Hoffman pounded home a one-timer from the right circle to make it 4-2 at 7:08 of the second period. Fleury stopped 12 of 16 shots and was hurt by shoddy play in front of him and at least one bad bounce: Stone knocked a carom off the glass behind the Pittsburgh goal out of midair and into the open net.
Murray entered to a loud ovation from the 445th consecutive sellout crowd in Pittsburgh and his team responded almost immediately, scoring three times in a span of 6:09 to take the lead. Cullen’s short-handed breakaway sparked the surge. Kessel tied it with a nasty wrist shot from between the circles and Schultz finished it with a wrist shot of his own to give the Penguins a 5-4 lead.
Ottawa stuck with Anderson, making his first start since taking a brief leave of absence to be with his wife as she battles throat cancer, even after the deluge. It backfired. Malkin squeezed past two defenders to flip a backhand by Anderson 1:05 into the third to put the Penguins up 6-4.
Phaneuf brought the Senators back within one with Ottawa’s third power-play goal, but Pittsburgh’s beleaguered penalty killers finally got a stop a couple of minutes later and Rust went high with the backhand on his penalty shot to give the Penguins the breathing room they needed.
UP NEXT
The Penguins begin a two-game road swing through Florida on Thursday when they face the Panthers.
