Penguins defeat the Avalanche in overtime!
AP recap:
DENVER (AP) – Tyler Kennedy scored a power-play goal 4:10 into overtime and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 3-2 victory Wednesday night that sent the Colorado Avalanche to their ninth straight loss.
Joe Vitale and Jordan Staal added goals for the injury-plagued Penguins, who snapped a two-game skid.
Kennedy knocked in a rebound after a shot from Alex Goligoski bounced to him off the pads of Peter Budaj. Kevin Porter was called for tripping moments before Kennedy’s 12th goal of the season.
Chris Stewart and Cameron Gaunce scored for the Avalanche, who are in the midst of their longest skid since moving to Denver for the 1995-96 season.
Star of the Game
Forward Tyler Kennedy has been stepping up and providing an offense spark for the Penguins, who entered Thursday’s tilt missing 52.9 percent (95 of 169) of their goal-scoring output from this season with injuries to key forwards.
He tallied his fifth goal in seven games on Thursday when he scored the game-winning goal for the Penguins with just 50 seconds remaining in overtime. Kevin Porter had gone off for tripping with 1:26 left in the extra period and the Penguins were pressuring hard on their 4-on-3 opportunity.
After Kris Letang made a leaping play to keep the puck in the zone, Pittsburgh attacked the net with a vengeance, but none of their blasts were solving Budaj – until a rebound on Alex Goligoski’s shot landed on the stick of a hovering Kennedy.
He wasted no time slamming the puck home to get the power-play goal. Kennedy finished the night with five shots through 17:54 of ice time.
HONORARY STAR: JOE VITALE