Penguins score nine in win against Flames

CALGARY -- Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 9-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel each scored two goals, Bryan Rust, Jack Johnson, Jake Guentzel and Matt Cullen scored, Derick Brassard had three assists, and Matt Murray made 38 saves for the Penguins (5-1-2), who have won the first three of a four-game Canada trip.
Pittsburgh scored nine goals for the first time since a 9-2 home win against the New York Islanders on Dec. 11, 2008, a game Crosby also scored three points, all assists.
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"It's one of those games where we did a good job of capitalizing on the chances we got," Crosby said. "I know it's a big score but I thought they had some pretty good chances too. [Murray] played really well. It's a big score and we capitalized on our chances, but they had some really good ones throughout the night."
James Neal scored, and Mike Smith allowed six goals on 21 shots before being pulled in the second period by the Flames (5-5-0), who are 1-3-0 in the past four games after winning four of five (4-1-0). David Rittich relieved and allowed three goals on 15 shots.
The Flames lost by a margin of eight or more goals for the first time since a 9-0 loss at the Boston Bruins on Jan. 5, 2012, and first at home since losing 8-0 against the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 4, 2000.
"We can keep saying the same things but at the end of the day we have to fix our game and every single guy in this room has to be better," Neal said.
Crosby scored his third goal in two games, short side on his backhand 4:23 into the first period to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. He has six points (three goals, three assists) in the past three games.

"I saw some space there," Crosby said. "I got some help. I think it ramped up their defenseman's stick. I'm just trying to get to the net and get to the short side and got a fortunate bounce there."
Hornqvist tipped Evgeni Malkin's point shot for a power-play goal to make it 2-0 at 14:19, and Rust scored on his rebound to push the lead to 3-0 at 19:08.

"At the start we actually weren't too bad but it all kind of snowballed in front of our eyes," Calgary forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "We got into a track meet mindset, it seemed like, at the beginning. Against a team that talented, that's what they want."
Kessel scored 1:17 into the second period to extend the lead to 4-0, and Hornqvist made it 5-0 at 6:28. Kessel scored again on a breakaway, after his minor penalty for slashing expired, to drive the lead to 6-0 at 9:19. Rittich replaced Smith after the goal.

"We played a very good hockey team, and from me out nobody was very good," Smith said. "When that happens it's just a recipe for disaster."
Johnson scored his first goal with Pittsburgh, and first in 28 games dating to Feb. 14, on the power play to make it 7-0 at 19:39.
Guentzel redirected a slap-pass from Crosby to make it 8-0 at 13:55 of the third period.
"When you have a big lead you try to maintain good habits," Crosby said. "I think you also try to enjoy it, but at the same time we've got to go out there and play and try to play the same way. But yeah, I think when you're up like that it's kind of trying to balance that."
Neal scored with 2:00 remaining to cut the lead to 8-1, but Cullen scored 34 seconds later to put Pittsburgh up 9-1.

They said it

"You certainly don't expect to go into a game and win by that amount of goals. Although having said that, if you're in this league long enough you end up on both sides of that. Some nights that happens. They're not easy to explain." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

"We ended up trying to do too much tonight. We tried to do everyone else's jobs before executing our game. We didn't do a great job being physical on the forecheck and we didn't have much time in their zone." -- Flames coach Bill Peters

Need to know

The Penguins tied their largest margin of victory on the road, 8-0 at the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 5, 1991. … The Penguins are 3-0-1 on the road this season, their best start away from home since 2014-15, when they opened 5-0-1. … Forward Derek Grant made his Penguins debut. He was plus-1 in 10:36. … Kessel has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in the past six games. … Malkin has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in a six-game point streak, and has points in seven of eight games this season. … Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic returned after missing eight games because of a facial fracture. He had four hits and five blocked shots in 18:54.

What's next

Penguins: At the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN360, SN1, CITY, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Flames: Host the Washington Capitals on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)