Penguins 3, Canucks 2
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Left winger David Perron scored his first goal of the season, and right winger Phil Kessel collected two assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 Wednesday night.
Center Sidney Crosby scored his second goal of the season on a power play for the Penguins, who won their fifth consecutive game. Center Eric Fehr added a short-handed goal for Pittsburgh (8-4-0).
The Penguins, who started the season 0-3-0, won for the eighth time in the past nine games. They built a 3-0 lead before Vancouver (6-3-4) mounted a third-period rally that fell short.
Left winger Daniel Sedin and right winger Jannik Hansen scored for the Canucks, who saw a two-game win streak end.
Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 18 shots. Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller made 20 saves.
The Penguins broke open a close game with goals 2:55 apart in the third period.
Crosby made it 2-0 at 7:17 of when he took a pass from Kessel in front of the net, made a move, and tucked it in the corner behind Miller.
Fehr made it 3-0 on a delayed penalty. He picked up the puck in the Pittsburgh end, blew past defenseman Yannick Weber and beat Miller with a forehand shot for his second short-handed goal of the season.
Daniel Sedin finally beat Fleury at 13:59, tipping in a shot from defenseman Matt Bartkowski. Hansen scored with just over a minute left and Miller out of the net for an extra attacker.
Perron gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 4:53 of the first period. Kessel started the play by sending the puck back to the blue line. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin unloaded a shot that Perron tipped past Miller for his first goal of the year
Both teams had good scoring chances in a scoreless second period.
The Canucks came close early. Hansen got behind the Pittsburgh defense and broke in on Fleury. He let got a shot that clipped the top of Fleury's glove then hit the post. Defenseman Kris Letang swept the loose puck off the goal line.
Fleury later made a diving save off a shot from center Brandon Sutter.
Midway through the period, Kessel blasted a shot that blew over Miller's shoulder but rang off the crossbar. The puck rebounded all the way to the Penguins' bench.
NOTES: LW Chris Higgins returned to the Vancouver lineup after fracturing his foot in the first pre-season game. ... C Brandon Sutter played against his old team for the first time since being traded to Vancouver on July 26. ... Vancouver's scratches were LW Sven Baertschi, C Brendan Gaunce and D Alex Biega. ... Canucks G Jacob Markstrom will be sent to Utica of the AHL for conditioning after recovering from a hamstring injury. ... The Canucks open a seven-game road trip Saturday in Buffalo. ... The Penguins lost twice to Vancouver last year by a combined 8-0 score. ... Pittsburgh LW Chris Kunitz was in the lineup despite missing practice Tuesday. ... The Penguins' scratches were RW Daniel Sprong and D Adam Clendening, a former Canuck. ... The Penguins continue their four-game road trip Friday in Edmonton.