Penguins 2, Senators 0
PITTSBURGH -- Right winger Daniel Sprong joined a small but elite group of 18-year-olds to score as a Pittsburgh rookie, center Evgeni Malkin also scored and Penguins finally won for the first time this season, beating the Ottawa Senators 2-0 Thursday night.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 22 shots in his 39th career NHL shutout and his 11th over the last two seasons as the Penguins -- off to their worst start in 10 years -- won after dropping their first three games.
Malkin and Sprong, getting an early-season trial with Pittsburgh after being the 46th player drafted overall last spring, scored 2:02 apart in the second period. Ottawa was shut out one night after blowing out the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-3 on the road.
Sprong is the first Dutch-born NHL player since defenseman Ed Kea played for Atlanta and St. Louis from 1974-83. He had a chance for a second goal, but shot wide against goalie Craig Anderson (34 saves) with about eight minutes remaining.
Malkin has 19 goals in 31 games against the Senators, who lost in regulation for the first time in 18 regular season games (14-1-3). They closed last season with a 23-4-4 surge that carried them into the playoffs.
Center Sidney Crosby was held scoreless for the fourth consecutive game, the first time that happened at the start of a season in his NHL career. The Penguins were also 0-for-2 on the power play, dropping them to 0-for-11 for the season. But playing with a lead clearly made a difference for the Penguins, who never led in their first three games.
The Penguins hadn't owned a 1-0 lead yet this season until Malkin gave them one only 23 seconds into the second period with his first goal of the season and first in his last 19 regular-season games.
Right winger Patric Hornqvist dug the puck out along the boards at center ice and passed ahead to Malkin, who beat Anderson cleanly as defenseman Erik Karlsson gave him plenty of room to get off a wrist shot from the right circle.
Sprong took a drop pass from center Matt Cullen in the lower left circle and the right winger wristed it by Anderson at 2:25 for his first NHL goal.
Sprong, who was born in Amsterdam but moved to Montreal at age 7 because he convinced his father that he could someday be an NHL player, joined Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Jordan Staal, Jarmoir Jagr and Robert Dome among a handful of players to score for the Penguins at 18.
The youngest with a goal was Staal in 2006 at 18 years and 25 days. Sprong was 18 years and 212 days on Thursday.
NOTES: Senators LW Clarke MacArthur, who missed a quarter of last season with a concussion, was held out with an apparent head injury that occurred Wednesday night in Columbus. LW Shane Price was active for the first time this season and was placed on the fourth line. Also scratched was D Chris Wideman. ... Senators G Craig Anderson started the second night of the back-to-back because backup Andrew Hammond continues to mend from a groin injury. ... Penguins RW Beau Bennett, who scored his first goal of the season on Tuesday against Montreal, didn't dress because with an undisclosed injury that occurred during that game. Coach Mike Johnston didn't estimate how long Bennett will be out. ... Penguins D Adam Clendening was active for the first time and replaced Ben Lovejoy on the No. 2 pairing with Olli Maatta. ... Penguins C Sidney Crosby and C Evgeni Malkin were back on the top power-play unit after Johnston split them up for the first three games. ... During the morning skate, Penguins F Eric Fehr skated with teammates for the first time since his June 3 elbow operation. It's still uncertain when he'll be ready to play. ... The Penguins also sat out LW Sergei Plotnikov, who began the season on Malkin's line, and D Rob Scuderi.