The Pittsburgh Penguins were full throttle for all 60 minutes against the Anaheim Ducks.
It was a late start for those in the Eastern Time Zone when the Pittsburgh Penguins began their three-game California road trip visiting the Anaheim Ducks.
For those that decided to embrace the late night, the Penguins rewarded them with a dominating start.
The Ducks are in the midst of the race for the first overall pick, but that doesn’t make the game any less important.
Even without Kris Letang in the lineup, the Penguins are in need of wins any way they can get them.
Defenseman P.O. Joseph kicked off the scoring with a rifle of a shot from the blue line with the primary assist being given to Teddy Blueger.
The assist was Blueger’s first point in a career-long 15 games but helped give the Penguins an early lead.
The Ducks answered back with a rather quick goal on the power play.
The Penguins refused to be silenced, however, as Kasperi Kapanen bagged a power play goal of his own.
It was an awkward bounce, but with how much the bottom six personnel has been struggling, they’ll take a goal any way they can get it, even if it was a power play.
The fluky goals weren’t done, either; Jeff Carter was also riding a career-long scoreless streak, but took full advantage of a John Gibson giveaway.
The Penguins finished the opening period with a 3-1 lead in goals and a 25-8 lead in shots on goals.
The Ducks managed to carry some momentum in the second period, giving Casey DeSmith some work in the Penguins net.
It wouldn’t be enough for the Ducks as Joseph added his second goal of the game to put the Penguins up 4-1 through two periods.
After those same 40 minutes, the Penguins had picked up 43 shots on goal to the Ducks’ 18.
The Penguins continued their domination through the final period the game and solidified an easy victory.
Evgeni Malkin tallied his second assist of the night on a Bryan Rust goal that extended the Penguins lead, but also pushed Geno to 1,200 career points.
Despite the 5-1 lead already, Jake Guentzel potted one of his own to push the score to six.
The Ducks weren't totally dead yet, however, as Mason McTavish scored against the team he grew up a die hard fan of.
John Klingberg added one of his own to make the score 6-3 in the dying minutes of the game, but it was too little too late for the Ducks.
The Penguins closed out the dominating win by setting a franchise record for shots on goal in a road game with 59.
Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more!
- Subscribe to Inside the Penguins on YouTube
- Follow Inside the Penguins on Twitter: @InsidePenguins