Ottawa Senators' Patrick Wiercioch (46) goes down in front of goalie Craig Anderson (41) to block a shot by Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015. The Penguins won 2-0.Gene J. Puskar/The Associated Press
Evgeni Malkin scored his first goal in nearly seven months and Marc-André Fleury stopped 22 shots for his 39th career shutout as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 2-0 on Thursday night.
Rookie Daniel Sprong picked up the first goal of his career for Pittsburgh, which won for the first time this season.
Craig Anderson made 34 saves for Ottawa, but the Senators failed to muster significant momentum a night after dropping seven goals on Columbus. Ottawa went 0 for 3 on the power play and rarely tested Fleury over the final two periods as the Senators lost on the road for the first time in four tries.
The Penguins came in scuffling after the franchise's worst start in a decade, managing all of three goals during an 0-3 stretch that left their stars frustrated and head coach Mike Johnston imploring them – again – to shoot the puck more often.
For a night anyway, the message appeared to get through.
Fresh after being given a day off and facing a team that must have gotten weary celebrating so often during a 7-3 dismantling of Columbus on Wednesday, Pittsburgh wasted little time, playing with the kind of tempo it lacked for much of the first week of the season.
The Penguins sent 16 pucks at Anderson during the opening 20 minutes. None found the back of the net, but the string of consistently aggressive shifts built momentum that finally crested with the team's first lead of the year. Malkin took a lead pass from Patric Hornqvist and beat Anderson with a wrist shot from just inside the right circle 23 seconds into the second period.
The goal was Malkin's first since March 6. He went scoreless during Pittsburgh's five-game loss to the New York Rangers in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Penguins' lead doubled just more than two minutes later when Sprong showed why his tryout period with the team might turn into something more permanent. The 18-year-old second-round pick surprisingly made the club out of training thanks to his relentlessly energetic play, and his first NHL goal showcased a shot that would seem to be a waste if he's returned to the junior ranks.
Matt Cullen carried it down the left side and fed Sprong between the circles. Sprong's wrist shot sailed past Anderson's flailing pads and the teenager let loose with a giddy goal celebration during which he flung himself against the glass after becoming the second Dutch-born player to score in NHL history.
Fleury and a defence that kept traffic in front of him light made the advantage stand up. Ottawa's best chances came on long-range blasts from the point that consistently sailed wide of the net as the Senators' early road dominance came to an abrupt halt.