In Pittsburgh, the visiting Anaheim Ducks dropped their first game of the season, 2-1, to the Penguins.
Jake Guentzel struck for the game-winner in the third to break a 1-1 tie.
Sidney Crosby scored for the Pens and assisted on the winner.
“We worked hard,” Crosby said. “I don’t think we gave up a whole lot. Just to a man, I think everyone competed really hard. We did the things we needed to do to find a way to win.”
Matt Murray made 31 saves in the win as the Pens improved to 2-2-0.
“I thought [Crosby] was great,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s such an inspiration when he plays the game as hard as he does. As he does on most nights, I thought he was a force on both ends of the rink. His commitment to defending is just as hard as it is to creating offense for us.
“His line scores both goals. His line is on the ice when we’re defending the lead when our opponent pulls the goalie. So that’s just a testament to his overall 200-foot game.”
Ondrej Kase scored the only Ducks goal to tie the game in the middle frame.
“We haven’t scored any goals but we had a lot of looks and a lot of good opportunities to score,” Ducks Ryan Getzlaf said. “We just haven’t scored. When your power play is getting frustrated, that’s when it’s time to worry. Right now, we’re working hard. We’re moving the puck around. We just have to put it in the net.”
[WATCH: All Ducks vs. Penguins highlights]
John Gibson made 26 saves in the loss.
“Where we’re at as a transitioning team, every one of our games has been tight so far. I don’t expect that to change. We’re going to have to learn how to, or keep learning, how to get out on top of these games, Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins said after the tight loss.
NOTES:Â Evgeni Malkin, Nick Bjugstad and Bryan Rust remain on long term injury list.
Alex Galchenyuk was added to the IR this week with a lower-body injury.
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