Ducks 2, Penguins 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Right wingers Corey Perry and Chris Stewart scored as the Anaheim Ducks earned a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night in front of 15,836 at the Honda Center.
Goalie John Gibson stopped 23 shots for his third victory in four games as the Ducks (11-12-5) gave the Penguins (14-10-2) their fourth loss in the last five contests.
Stewart broke a 1-1 tie at 15:49 of the second period. After left winger Mike Santorelli backhanded a pass from the right corner to center Nate Thompson, Stewart redirected Thompson's pass from the right circle inside the right post for his fifth goal.
Anaheim then had to defuse Pittsburgh's 6-on-4 power play in the final 1 minute, 20 seconds, when defenseman Kevin Bieksa went to the penalty box for slashing and Penguins coach Mike Johnston pulled goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for an extra attacker.
Immediately before Bieksa's penalty, center Evgeni Malkin had a chance to tie the score. With the right side of the net wide open, Malkin faked to his backhand. But with Malkin in front of the crease, the puck rolled off his stick.
The Penguins took a 1-0 lead 3:02 into the first period on defenseman Olli Maatta's fourth goal. Center Sidney Crosby deflected left winger Chris Kunitz's pass from the boards near the left circle to Maatta, who fired a wrist shot from the top of the slot.
Johnston then successfully challenged the apparent tying goal nearly 4 1/2 minutes later. Left winger Rickard Rakell converted the rebound of defenseman Sami Vatanen's shot on a power play at 7:30 but the Ducks were offside before the play, nullifying the goal.
Perry responded 36 seconds into the second period by flicking a shot off Fleury for his 10th goal.
Both teams were skating 4-on-4 when Perry scored. Malkin and Anaheim center Ryan Kesler received roughing penalties when the first period ended.
The Penguins had a chance to break the tie about six minutes later but defenseman Ian Cole's slap shot from the right point hit the right post.
NOTES: Pittsburgh scratched D Adam Clendening, RW Daniel Sprong, and D Kris Letang, who missed his second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury. Letang needs one point to become the fifth Penguins defenseman with 300 for his career. ... Five Penguins spent part of their careers in Anaheim: C Nick Bonino, C Matt Cullen, LW Chris Kunitz and D Ben Lovejoy. ... Penguins RW Beau Bennett was born and grew up in Metropolitan Los Angeles. No Californian has been selected higher in the NHL draft than Bennett, Pittsburgh's first-round choice with the 20th overall pick in 2010. ... Anaheim scratched D Korbinian Holzer, LW Patrick Maroon and G Anton Khudobin. ... Ducks G John Gibson grew up in Pittsburgh and called Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury his favorite player. ... The Ducks led the NHL with an 87.5 percent success rate in penalty killing but ranked last with 1.93 goals-per-game entering Sunday night's contest.