Saturday, December 21, 2002
Steve McKenna and Martin Straka each scored in a 2-0 win over Calgary.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Steve McKenna scored his first goal in almost a year and Johan Hedberg stopped 23 shots as the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped a 10-game winless streak with a 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.
McKenna took Milan Kraft's pass and fired a 20-foot wrist shot from the left circle past goalie Roman Turek at 17:43 of the first period. It was his third power-play goal in 276 career games and first goal since Jan. 22, 2002, when he played for the New York Rangers.
Martin Straka also scored a power-play goal for the Penguins, whose 0-9-0-1 slump knocked them from second in the Eastern Conference to 13th. Hedberg, who won his first home game since Nov. 2, earned his first shutout of the season and seventh of his career.
Second straight shutout
Calgary, 3-4-2 under interim coach Al MacNeil, was shut out for the second consecutive game and eighth time this season. The Flames are 0-10-2 in their last 12 games in Pittsburgh, where they haven't won since Feb. 12, 1989.
NHL scoring leader Mario Lemieux assisted on Straka's goal for his first point in four games, ending the longest point drought of his career at 245 minutes, 33 seconds.
Straka deflected Alexei Kovalev's shot from the right point past Turek at 13:48 of the second period for his seventh goal of the season. Kovalev, who had gone three games without a point, picked up his second assist of the game.
Pittsburgh, which took 20 shots on Turek, has scored only 18 goals in 11 games. Only Nashville has scored fewer goals than Calgary, which failed to convert four power-play chances.
Notes
The Penguins scratched Alexandre Daigle, Randy Robitaille and Brooks Orpik, while the Flames played without Jordan Leopold, Craig Berube and Scott Nichol, who is serving a five-game suspension. ... Flames D Bob Boughner played his first game in Pittsburgh since leaving the Penguins to sign as a free agent with Calgary in July 2001. ... The Flames' winless streak in Pittsburgh is the longest of any opponent in Penguins' history. ... Calgary has not scored more than three goals in a game since Nov. 4. ... The Flames are 7-9-1-2 on the road and just 2-8-4-1 at home. ... The victory also broke a four-game home losing streak for the Penguins.