Letang, Bunting each gets 3 points, Penguins cruise past Flames for 3rd straight win

PITTSBURGH -- Kris Letang had a goal and two assists, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won a third straight game for the first time this season, 6-2 against the Calgary Flames at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Michael Bunting also had a goal and two assists, Blake Lizotte had a goal and an assist, and Matt Grzelcyk had two assists for the Penguins (10-12-4), who won 5-4 against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday and 2-1 at the Boston Bruins on Friday. Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves.

“We’re just playing a more honest game,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “When we play an honest game, we’re going to give ourselves a chance. ... I don’t think it’s by coincidence we were able to string three (wins) in a row here. I think that the style of game that we’re playing is conducive to winning.”

Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri each had a goal and an assist, and Dan Vladar made 37 saves for the Flames (12-9-4), who have lost four in a row (0-3-1) including 5-2 at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.

“We’re just an easy team to play against,” Huberdeau said. “I feel like we’re taking penalties, the PK needs to get better too. I think even though we take penalties, we have to be able to kill them. I think it’s hard for us when we’re down a lot of goals and we have to come back. We’ve got to come out harder and play harder.”

Anthony Beauvillier put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 17:14 of the first period, driving to the right face-off circle for a backhand.

It came after Rasmus Andersson nearly gave Calgary a lead at 15:59 on a one-timer from the right circle off a shot from Kevin Bahl that hit off the end boards. Initially looking in the opposite direction, Nedeljkovic slid to his left and stretched for a glove save.

“Could have went either way in the first,” Kadri said. “Obviously, goaltender played pretty good. Could have probably been up 1-0 or 2-0 in the first period. He did a great job standing on his head and made a couple incredible saves. So just didn’t get much puck luck today.”

Nedeljkovic allowed 24 goals in his previous six starts, including six on 30 shots his last time out in a 6-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 23.

“Felt good,” Nedeljkovic said. “Felt like the same as the last couple of weeks. Maybe a little bit more relaxed. That probably, honestly, allowed me to make a couple more saves tonight.”

Bunting made it 2-0 on a power play at 2:40 of the second period with a wrist shot at the right post off a rebound from Grzelcyk.

Philip Tomasino then extended it to 3-0 with another power-play goal at 9:02, taking a pass from Letang with a wrist shot from the left circle with Vladar down in the crease. He has scored in the past two games since being acquired in a trade from the Nashville Predators on Monday.

Rickard Rakell pushed it to 4-0 at 5:25 of the third period on a backhand from the crease off a pass from Sidney Crosby.

Letang made it 5-0 at 7:59 on a third power-play goal for Pittsburgh, a one-timer from the point.

“I think our mindset going over the boards, it's just creating chances with shooting,” Letang said. “I think we did a pretty good job. [Bunting] was pretty good today around the net. So we kept it simple.”

Huberdeau cut it to 5-1 at 14:27 with a wrist shot from the slot before Kadri pulled the Flames to within 5-2 on another wrist shot at 15:05.

Lizotte scored from the high slot at 18:23 for the 6-2 final.

“There’s certain parts to our game when we’re doing things the right way, I feel like we’re hard to play against,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “There were stretches of it on this trip that we saw, but it wasn’t enough for us.”

NOTES: Letang had his 108th multi-assist game, one shy of tying Ron Francis (109) for the fifth most in Penguins history. Erik Karlsson (132) and Victor Hedman (108) are the only active defensemen with as many. ... Flames forward Justin Kirkland did not play after sustaining a lower-body injury in a 5-2 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. ... Penguins defenseman Owen Pickering had one block and one hit in 13:24 of ice time after missing the previous two games with an undisclosed illness.