PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jake Guentzel scored the tie breaking goal in the third period to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-1 victory over the previously unbeaten Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
Guentzel finished Sidney Crosby’s backhand feed from the slot at 7:24 of the third. Guentzel has five goals in five career games against the Ducks, including his second career hat trick last season. Crosby also scored a power-play goal, his second of the season. He has multiple points in five of his last 10 games against Anaheim. Matt Murray made 31 saves for the Penguins. He needs one more win to reach 100 in the NHL. Pittsburgh concluded a season-opening, four-game homestand with a 2-2 record. The Penguins have won nine of their last 12 home games against Anaheim and nine of the last 13 overall versus the Ducks. Ondrej Kase scored his first of the season for Anaheim, which tried to open a season with four straight wins for the first time in franchise history. The Ducks, who entered the NHL as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 1993-94, started 3-0 last season and also in 2006-07, when they won the Stanley Cup. John Gibson, a Pittsburgh native, stopped 26 shots. He allowed more than one goal for the first time this season. Four of Pittsburgh’s top nine forwards were out of the lineup.