| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins didn't have their best
player or their head coach and still had no trouble beating the St. Louis Blues.
Martin Straka scored two goals, one on a penalty shot, as the
Pittsburgh Penguins, without Jaromir Jagr, ended a four-game losing
streak Wednesday night with a 3-1 victory.
|  | | Pittsburgh assistant Ed Johnston, right, said all the right things to German Titov and the Pens while subbing for suspended Herb Brooks. |
Jagr, the NHL's leading scorer with 34 goals and 74 points, sat out with a rib-cage injury.
"We needed a win," goalie Tom Barrasso said. "The road trip
we just came off was beyond poor. We had a couple of games where we
just didn't show up to play, and you're not supposed to do that when you're professionals.
"We faced some adversity tonight, and the guys played the type
of game we need to play if we have any expectation of winning."
Penguins coach Herb Brooks served the final game of his two-game
suspension Wednesday for shoving and yelling at Colorado Avalanche broadcaster
John Kelly last week.
Barrasso had a strong game for Pittsburgh as the Blues held 31-14 edge in shots.
"A tremendous game," said Eddie Johnston, who was substituting for Brooks with fellow assistant coach Rick Kehoe. "I think he was the difference in the game."
The Penguins got a four-minute power play at 1:25 of the first
period, when Michal Handzus' cut German Titov with his stick.
Pittsburgh ended an 0-for-27 man-advantage slump, scoring during each of the penalties.
Straka scored at 2:03, one-timing Rob Brown's goal-line pass.
Brown played for the first time since Dec. 15, after missing 14
games with a knee injury.
Titov scored his 13th at 2:44, positioning himself in front of
the net and tapping in Matthew Barnaby's pass.
"Just an awful start," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said.
"Here's a team that's been struggling on the power play and they
scored two, 20 seconds into both power plays. It was a careless
penalty and poor coverage."
Straka was awarded the penalty shot at 8:46 of the second when
he was pulled down by Dave Ellett on a breakaway. Straka slipped
the puck under Roman Turek's pad for his eighth goal, but not
before consulting with Robert Lang and Jiri Slegr.
"They told me he's a little weak on the glove side low,"
Straka said of his teammates' advice. "That's what I did, and it
went in."
It was Pittsburgh's first successful penalty shot at home since
Oct. 31, 1991, when Bob Errey beat Darcy Wakaluk of Minnesota.
Straka had failed on two previous penalty shots.
Turek has stopped only one of three penalty shots this season.
Barrasso lost his shutout at 9:03 of the third when Pavol
Demitra scored a power-play goal. Demitra's shot was heading wide
when it hit Pittsburgh defenseman Brad Werenka and dropped behind
Barrasso.
The Blues, who played without defenseman Al MacInnis, have lost
two straight after going unbeaten in eight games (6-0-2). MacInnis,
fourth on the Blues with 27 points, is out with back spasms.
Pittsburgh defenseman Darius Kasparaitis sat out an automatic
one-game suspension for his two game misconducts this season.
The Blues are 0-8-1 in their last nine games at Pittsburgh.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Head to head: Turgeon vs. Barrasso
Brooks' tirade earns him 2-game NHL suspension
RECAPS
Boston 4
Atlanta 3
Washington 3
Florida 1
Montreal 3
NY Islanders 0
New Jersey 4
Chicago 1
Pittsburgh 3
St. Louis 1
San Jose 0
Colorado 0
Edmonton 7
Calgary 0
Detroit 3
Vancouver 3
Anaheim 3
Dallas 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Martin Straka scores with the easy wrist shot.
avi: 783 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
German Titov scores on the Penguin power play.
avi: 693 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Martin Straka blazes the puck past Roman Turek.
avi: 675 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
