Penguins’ Kunitz nets shootout goal for win in Philly

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

Battered by injury and suspension, the Penguins are still fighting for first.

Even without injured stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, they might nab the top spot in the Atlantic Division.

Chris Kunitz and Alex Kovalev each scored shootout goals to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-1 win over the slumping Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

“We still have a long way to go to get ahead of them here,” center Jordan Staal said, “but it’s always a good feeling to come into this barn and walk away with two points.”

The Penguins are in second place in the Atlantic with 94 points and eight games left. The Flyers lead the division and the Eastern Conference with 98 points and nine games remaining.

The Flyers and Penguins play each other one more time on Tuesday at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

“We’re still in the fight for first place, and I think we played great tonight,” Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. “But we’re going to need more of that.”

Alex Kovalev scored the first shootout goal. He was matched by Philadelphia’s Danny Briere. Kunitz got the final shootout attempt through the legs of Sergei Bobrovsky for the winner.

Philadelphia’s Mike Richards and Pittsburgh’s Tyler Kennedy scored goals in regulation.

The Penguins have won four of five to get back into the race. They are without forward Matt Cooke, who was suspended by the NHL for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs — a minimum of 14 games.

The Flyers played in their fourth straight shootout and reached overtime for the fifth time in six games. They have won only one of those games that needed extra time and are losing their grip on the conference lead.

“Sometimes I feel like we play a good game,” Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen said, “but we can’t bounce back. That’s a big worry for me because in the playoffs, you play one game, you have to put it behind you [and] focus on the next game.”