Senators ‘Stone’ Pens

Ottawa rallies from three goals down

to remain alive in NHL playoff chase

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

The Penguins still are not in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

They failed to hold a three-goal lead and lost to Ottawa, 4-3, in overtime at the Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.

Mark Stone capped the Senators’ comeback by scoring the game-winner at 2:43 of overtime.

The Penguins’ magic number for clinching a spot is three points.

After losing their previous three games in regulation, the Penguins (42-26-12) responded to their most important game of the regular season with one of their best first periods in 2014-15, building a 3-0 lead.

Sidney Crosby put them up, 1-0, just 10 seconds into the game, when he drove a slap shot past Ottawa goalie Andrew Hammond from inside the left circle.

Assists on the goal, Crosby’s 28th, went to Patric Hornqvist and Paul Martin.

That was the earliest Crosby ever has scored and was just four seconds off the franchise record set by Jean Pronovost on March 25, 1976, in St. Louis.

It’s not unusual for Crosby to produce in pressure situations, but the Penguins got their second goal from a guy - Beau Bennett - who hadn’t scored in his previous 30 games.

Nonetheless, Bennett stretched their lead to 2-0 at 5:16, when he controlled a feed from Ian Cole and tossed it past Hammond from the right side of the crease for his fourth of the season.

Cole’s assist extended his scoring streak to five games, a personal best and the longest by a Penguins defenseman this season.

Perhaps because they’ve failed to protect more than a few two-goal advantages this season, the Penguins didn’t let up, and Hornqvist made it 3-0 at 14:44.

Hammond made an excellent shoulder save on a Crosby backhander, but the rebound tumbled through the air before dropping into the crease. Hornqvist charged toward the net and backhanded the puck into the net for his 25th.

Assists went to Crosby and defenseman Rob Scuderi.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury faced just seven shots in the opening period, but was tested repeatedly during the first half of the second.

Fleury had the answer for everything that came his way until 14:41, when Jean-Pierre Pageau scored a short-handed goal - the 10th the Penguins have allowed this season - to slice the Penguins’ advantage to 3-1.

Pageau didn’t score on a shot, but on a centering pass that went off Penguins defenseman Derrick Pouliot and skidded into the net.

Pouliot left the game a few minutes later with an apparent injury.

Ottawa pulled within a goal just 34 seconds into the third period, as Daniel Winnik failed to handle a pass from Crosby and Mark Stone pounced on it, beating Fleury from between the hash marks.

Fleury made a stellar stop on Stone at 2:12 to keep the Penguins in front, but couldn’t prevent Mike Hoffman from tying it with 1:48 left in regulation, after the Senators had replaced Hammond with an extra attacker.

The Penguins have two regular-season games remaining: Friday at 7:08 p.m. against the New York Islanders at Consol Energy Center and Saturday at 7:08 p.m. in Buffalo.