In Pittsburgh, the Penguins picked up a much needed two points on Thursday as their chief rivals won big as well.
The Pens downed the Minnesota Wild, 4-1, in a desperate effort to keep pace in the wild card race in the Eastern Conference.
Tristan Jarry made 27 saves in the win.
“That’s the game that I think we need to emulate night in and night out,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “On the same side of the coin, I felt like we were playing on our toes and were still trying to play the aggressive game that we want to play. We just did it in a calculated way.”
Night in and night for three more nights, and hope the rivals drop a game.
“We’ve got to keep it going,” Jarry said. “Obviously, we’re still chasing teams. We have to bring it every game. Every two points helps.”
The loss dropped the Wild to 44-24-10, it was their third straight set back.
Kris Letang scored in the first period to stake the Penguins to a 1-0 lead.
Pittsburgh outshot the Wild, 19-5 in the opening stanza.
“I think the start helped,” Letang said. “When you come out of the gate and you’re on your toes, and you’re playing well like this, it sets up success for the rest of the game.”
Rickard Rakell doubled the advantage to 2-0 in the middle frame.
Pittsburgh improved to 39-30-10.
Jason Zucker scored early in the third period to extend the Pens lead to 3-0.
Marcus Johansson scored off the power play at 7:39 of the third, but Jeff Carter scored at 13:09 for the 4-1 final.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves in the wild loss.
“It happened,” Fleury said of Minnesota’s slow start. “I feel like it’s my job to pick it up when the other team is on us or shooting a lot of pucks.”
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