Pro Sports

Blueger scores in 8th round of SO, Penguins beat Coyotes

Posted January 12, 2020 6:00 am

By JACK MAGRUDER

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Adin Hill (31) makes a save on a shot as Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Bryan Rust (17) gets out of the way of the shot during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The Associated Press

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - The last time Teddy Blueger took part in a shootout was last season in the American Hockey League.

His debut in an NHL tiebreaker was a smashing success.

Blueger flipped the puck under the crossbar in the eighth round of the shootout to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday.

'œNot something I'm used to, for sure,'ť said Blueger, who has six goals in 45 games this season. 'œBut someone was bound to score. Obviously with each shot, it seems like the pressure mounts a little bit.'ť

Pittsburgh's Bryan Rust and Arizona's Taylor Hall each scored in the third round of the tiebreaker.

Jared McCann, Patric Hornqvist and Brandon Tanev scored in regulation for the Penguins, who swept a three-game Western road trip. Evgeny Malkin had two assists.

'œGuys are competing, we're finding different ways to win," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "Different guys are stepping up at key times and we're getting saves, ,,, We're battling.'ť

Tristan Jarry had 25 saves in his second victory over the Coyotes this season. He made 33 saves in a 2-0 win Dec.6. In this one, he stopped Carl Soderberg's wrister in the shootout after Blueger's goal to end the game.

'œIn the shootout the puck was rolling a ton, especially on our shots,'ť Hall said. 'œTheir goalie made some great saves, and sometimes the shootout is a bit of a coin flip.'ť

Arizona missed the net three times in the tiebreaker, and Pittsburgh's Dominik Simon hit the post in the seventh round.

'œWhen you get down to that part of the bench, there is no a huge body of work to lean on,'ť Sullivan said. 'œIt becomes more about a feel thing. We try to use as much science as we can, but when you go that deep into a shootout, there's no data to go on. It's more a coach's feel. Obviously, Teddy, it was a great shot. It's probably appropriate too, because he has played extremely well on this road trip.'ť

Hall had a goal and an assist, and Conor Garland and Derek Stepan also scored for the Coyotes, who had been shutout in the previous two games but still lost their third straight. Adin Hill made 30 saves in his third start of the season for Arizona, with both Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper out with injuries.

Stepan redirected a centering pass from Niklas Hjalmarsson to give the Coyotes a 3-2 lead with eight minutes remaining before Tanev scored on a shot from the slot with three minutes left to tie it.

McCann scored at 2:43 of the first period, 18 seconds into a 5-on-3 power play. McCann has three goals in his last four games.

Garland tied it at 1 with his 15th of the season with 5:37 left in the first period, the Coyotes' first goal since Lawson Crouse scored in the final minute of third period in a 5-2 victory at Florida on Tuesday.

Hornqvist put the puck past Hill on a sharp angle from the right side on a power play for a 2-1 lead four minutes into the second period. He has five goals in his last eight games.

Hall countered from a similarly severe angle from left side midway through the period to tie it at 2.

STILL SEARCHING

Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet is still looking for his first win against the Penguins, for whom he played and also served as an assistant coach. He is 0-5-1 against them since becoming the Coyotes' head coach on July 11, 2017.

Phil Kessel, who joined Tocchet in Arizona this season, scored the overtime game-winner in the Penguins' 3-2 victory over the Coyotes last Jan. 19.

Tocchet scored 41 goals in two seasons and part of a third (1991-94) with the Penguins and was an assistant coach for three seasons (2014-16) there before being taking the Coyotes' job.

OUT OF THE NET

Raanta is not expected to play against San Jose on Tuesday after suffering an undisclosed injury in the final game of the road trip Friday.

With Kuemper likely out until after the All-Star break, the Coyotes dressed goaltenders Hill and Ivan Prosvetov on Sunday. Prosvetov, recalled from Tucson of the American Hockey League on Saturday, has never played an NHL game.

NOTES: Penguins F Sidney Crosby (core muscle) did not dress Sunday after going through a full practice Saturday. He missed his 28th straight game after a Nov. 9 injury that required surgery. 'œWe're going to try to make decisions '¦ that are in the best interest of Sid and the team,'ť coach Mike Sullivan said before the game. 'œThat's what we did.'ť Pittsburgh is 18-6-4 without Crosby. ... Hjalmarsson returned after missing the previous 43 games because of a fractured left fibula. ... The Penguins had two shots in the first period and 22 in the second. ... The Coyotes were shut out in their previous two games, 4-0 at Tampa Bay on Thursday and 3-0 at Carolina on Friday.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Host Minnesota on Tuesday night.

Coyotes: Host San Jose on Tuesday night.

___

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Patric Hornqvist, second from right, scores a goal against Arizona Coyotes goaltender Adin Hill, left, as Coyotes defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) and Jason Demers (55) look on during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The Associated Press

Arizona Coyotes right wing Conor Garland, middle, celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins with Coyotes defenseman Alex Goligoski (33) and Coyotes center Christian Dvorak, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The Associated Press

Arizona Coyotes right wing Conor Garland (83) scores a goal against Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry (35) as Penguins right wing Bryan Rust (17) and defenseman Marcus Pettersson, right, look on during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The Associated Press

Pittsburgh Penguins center Jared McCann (19) celebrates his goal against the Arizona Coyotes with Penguins right wing Patric Hornqvist (72) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The Associated Press

Arizona Coyotes right wing Clayton Keller (9) checks Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel (2) into the boards as the two battle for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The Associated Press

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel, right, becomes entangled with Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, in Denver. Pittsburgh won 4-3 in overtime. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz gloves the puck, against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, in Denver. Pittsburgh won 4-3 in overtime. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

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