Penguins blank Canucks to extend winning streak
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Ian Cole scored in the second period and goaltender Matthew Murray stopped 27 shots as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 Saturday night to extend their winning streak to five games.
The shutout was the fourth of the season for Murray and fifth of his career. One of his best stops was a glove save off a Henrik Sedin shot early in the third period.
Jake Guentzel and Connor Sheary, into an empty net, scored Pittsburgh's other goals in the third period.
The win moved the Penguins (43-16-8) past Columbus into second place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Canucks (28-31-9) saw their four-game points streak (2-0-2) end. Vancouver trails St. Louis by 10 points for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller kept his team in the game by making a season-high 45 saves.
Guentzel made it 2-0 at 16:54 of the third. He took Sheary's pass from behind the net and beat Miller.
After a slow start, the Penguins found their legs in the second period. The defending Stanley Cup champions outshot Vancouver 23-8 and took a 1-0 lead.
Cole scored at 16:24. He took a pass from Tom Kuhnhackl and fired a shot from just inside the blue line that beat Miller, who was being screened by Oskar Sundqvist. It was Cole's fifth goal of the season.
Miller made some big saves to keep the game close in the second. He stopped Sheary on a sharp-angle shot and Phil Kessel during a power play.
Vancouver had two goals called back.
Michael Chaput looked to have put the Canucks ahead at 7:35 of the first period but the goal was disallowed for goaltender interference. Sven Baertschi's power-play goal early in the third was called off on a high stick.
NOTES: C Markus Granlund and D Chris Tanev missed the game with food poisoning. ... The Canucks recalled LW Alexandre Grenier and RW Joseph Labate from their AHL team in Utica. ... LW Brendan Gaunce was out with an upper-body injury suffered in Tuesday's loss to the New York Islanders. ... G Jacob Markstrom, sidelined seven games with a lower-body injury, skated Saturday. ... D Philip Larsen dressed after being a healthy scratch 12 times in the last 16 games. ... The Canuck homestand continues Monday against Boston. ... Pittsburgh G Matt Murray is (9-1-2) in his last 12 decisions. ... D Ian Cole has a career-high 17 assists and 22 points this season. ... LW Carl Hagelin was a healthy scratch. ... C Evegni Malkin played in his 704th game, sixth most in franchise history. ... The Penguins' five-game road trip continues in Calgary Monday.