Flames beat Penguins in shootout
CALGARY, Alberta -- Kris Versteeg scored the shootout winner as the Calgary Flames edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 for their 10th straight win to tie a franchise record.
Versteeg flipped a backhand shot past Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for the lone goal of the shootout, much to the delight of the 19,289 fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Atlanta Flames set the franchise record of 10 wins in a row thanks to a 2-0 victory over the Penguins at home on Nov. 3, 1978, before relocating to Calgary two seasons later.
Deryk Engelland, Dennis Wideman and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for Calgary, while Versteeg had two assists for the Flames (39-26-4), who moved into the second spot in the NHL's Pacific Division.
Making his seventh straight start in net, Calgary goalie Brian Elliott made 32 saves to record his ninth straight win.
Conor Sheary and Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist each for Pittsburgh (43-16-9), while Evgeni Malkin also scored.
Fleury made 27 saves for the Penguins, who had won five straight games, including three in a row on the road.
Gaudreau put the Flames up 3-2 with a wraparound goal during a Calgary power play at 5:22 of the third before Crosby redirected a shot from Sheary past Elliott at 16:39 to force overtime.
Pittsburgh opened the scoring at 2:54 of the first period when Sheary finished off a nice three-way passing play with linemates Jake Guentzel and Crosby.
The Penguins had a great chance to extend their lead a short time later, but Elliott stood his ground to stop a backhand shot by Malkin, who snuck in behind Calgary's defense.
Engelland replied for the Flames at 13:48 of the first when his pass to Matt Stajan in the slot deflected off Pittsburgh defenseman Mark Streit's stick and past Fleury.
The Penguins retook their one-goal advantage 2:03 later with a power-play goal by Malkin, who passed off to Chris Kunitz before drove hard to the net to complete the nifty give-and-go.
Calgary pulled even once again at 1:34 of the second period with a bit of a fluky goal as Pittsburgh's Nick Bonino tried to glove down a point shot taken by Wideman. Instead, the puck went up in the air and off Pittsburgh defenseman Ron Hainsey before trickling past Fleury.
Later in the period, Fleury stuck out his right pad to stop a point-blank scoring opportunity by Matthew Tkachuk during a Calgary power play before also making a great glove grab to deny a blast off the stick of Dougie Hamilton.
Not to be outdone, Elliott made a nice glove save to stop a shot from the top of the faceoff circle by Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin.
NOTES: Pittsburgh recalled RW Josh Archibald from the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Monday and he started the game on a line with C Nick Bonino and LW Scott Wilson. ... D Cameron Gaunce was a healthy scratch for the Penguins, while Matt Cullen (lower body), Carl Hagelin (lower body) and Patric Hornqvist (concussion) were out with injuries. ... Penguins D Ron Hainsey appeared in his 900th NHL game. ... Flames D Michael Stone missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Calgary scratched C Curtis Lazar, C Freddie Hamilton and D Rasmus Andersson. ... Penguins LW Tom Sestito sat out the third game of his four-game suspension for boarding Winnipeg Jets D Toby Enstrom during Pittsburgh's 7-4 road win last Wednesday.