GLENDALE, Ariz. – A hot goalie made them sweat, but the Penguins got the win.
They controlled the puck and the play throughout Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena. But Scott Wedgewood was outstanding in net for the Coyotes to keep them in the game until the later stages.
Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby scored in the third to help the Penguins pull away. Kasperi Kapanen also got a goal for the first time in more than two months.
The Penguins wrapped up their three-game road trip with a 2-1-0 record.
The Penguins were coming off two strong showings against Western Conference playoff hopefuls. The Coyotes, meanwhile, were sitting 15th in the West.
Still, coach Mike Sullivan said his team couldn’t take the Coyotes lightly.
“There’s always challenges, no matter who your opponent is or where they sit in the standings,” Sullivan said. “The reality is every team in the NHL is really good. They’ve got NHL players, NHL coaches. They’re all well-coached. And if you don’t bring your best, then you’re going to leave yourself vulnerable to lose.”
The coach then noted the Coyotes’ 7-3 record in their last 10 games and that they had scored 27 goals over their last five before he rattled off the names of offensive threats such as Keller, Nick Schmaltz and “a veteran guy in Phil” Kessel.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re ready to bring our best,” Sullivan said.
The Penguins did. But they ran into another locked-in netminder. They lost Tuesday at Nashville in part because Predators goalie Juuso Saros was rock solid.
They dominated the first period Saturday, firing the final 15 shots after a promising power play gave them a boost. Wedgewood had to make a few quality stops, none finer than when he kicked out his right pad to rob Malkin on the doorstep.
Early in the second period, Kapanen scored his first goal since Jan. 23 to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. As Jeff Carter charged down the right wing, Kapanen raced to the left post, ducked behind Coyotes defenseman Anton Stralman at the perfect moment then swatted Carter’s backdoor pass behind Wedgewood.
He celebrated by giving the blade of his stick a big, mustachioed smooch.
Saturday was Kapanen’s fourth game back in the Pittsburgh lineup after Sullivan made the winger a healthy scratch for the March 11 victory over Vegas.
He has been more dangerous offensively. Plus, his energy and effort without the puck have been more evident, particularly in their games in Nashville and St. Louis. Against the Blues, he created a couple of turnovers with stick lifts.
“I think he’s responded really well,” Sullivan said before the game. “He’s playing hard. He’s competing on pucks. I think his speed is much more noticeable. He’s had a couple of breakaways. … He’s had a lot of really good looks. The puck hasn’t gone in for him but if he keeps getting those looks we think it will.”
Sullivan was onto something as Kapanen soon ended his 20-game drought.
And Kapanen did it in the team’s last game before Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. The winger has been the subject of trade speculation in recent weeks.
After Kapanen’s goal, the Penguins continued to pepper Wedgewood, who made a few more difficult saves. He stretched out to stuff Evan Rodrigues’ tip-in try then Clayton Keller was going the other way. He split the defensemen, Mike Matheson and John Marino, then just barely beat Tristan Jarry to tie it up.
The Penguins had a 33-15 edge in shots through two periods but Wedgewood kept the Coyotes in the game. With Pittsburgh on a 5-on-3 power play, he lunged across his crease with 2.3 seconds left in the second to somehow stop Crosby.
Malkin netted the go-ahead goal with 7:24 left in the third. Wedgewood stopped his initial shot but Malkin followed it up and popped it past the goalie.
Crosby then scored twice, one of them on an empty net, to provide cushion.
With the future of the Coyotes franchise in limbo, Saturday afternoon might have been the last time that the Penguins played a game at Gila River Arena.
The Penguins on Tuesday will host the Columbus Blue Jackets in Pittsburgh.
