Penguins extend winning streak

Pittsburgh won for the
seventh straight game,
3-1 over Florida.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The puck slid between Ty Conklin’s legs into the net, proving the Pittsburgh Penguins’ goaltender isn’t perfect.

He’s still unbeaten, however.

Conklin made 27 saves to win for the eighth time in as many starts this season, and the Penguins extended their longest winning streak in nine years to seven games Tuesday by beating the Florida Panthers 3-1.

Conklin lost his shutout on a short-handed goal by Gregory Campbell, who scored for the third time this season at 15:51 of the third period.

Was Conklin disappointed to lose the shutout?

“Not really. We got the win,” he said. “The team’s been playing well. We’ve been getting some breaks. We’ve been doing a lot of little things that work.”

Conklin has started each of the past seven contests, allowing nine goals during that span.

“It starts with our goalie. He’s playing great,” teammate Ryan Whitney said. “You don’t want to get too confident or cocky, but we feel like we can play with any team and we have been.”

The game was scoreless until midway through the second period, when the Penguins scored three times in 3:06, with Sidney Crosby contributing a goal and an assist.

“We were making sure we keep our foot on the gas,” Crosby said.

Panthers coach Jacques Martin then replaced goalie Tomas Vokoun with Craig Anderson. Vokoun came in with a .920 save percentage, but stopped only 20 of 23 shots.

“I was trying to change the momentum,” Martin said. “He has played a lot. It’s not an indication ... none of the goals were his fault.”

The Penguins’ winning streak is their longest since they won 10 in a row in 1998-99. They’ve outscored opponents 24-9 during the streak, and their past two wins have come against Florida.

Conklin shut out the Panthers 3-0 on Saturday.

Florida lost for the fifth time in six games, while Pittsburgh remained one point behind first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic Division.

Martin broke up his top line, and center Ollie Jokinen teamed with Brett McLean and Richard Zednik. But the change failed to spark Florida’s sputtering offense.

“Three minutes killed us,” defenseman Bryan Allen said. “It’s the difference in the game.”

The Penguins took the lead midway through the second period on a power play. Petr Sykora scored his 13th goal on a wrist shot after taking a pass across the crease from Crosby. Evgeni Malkin also assisted.

Pittsburgh needed only 76 seconds to score again. Crosby earned his 18th goal with a wrist shot from between the circles, beating Vokoun on the stick side.

Less than two minutes later, Georges Laraque scored his third goal of the season, poking in a rebound after Jeff Taffe’s shot bounced off the post.