Hornqvist’s first hat trick lifts Penguins

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The Penguins, like most of their playoff-chasing brethren, opted against making a splashy move at the trade deadline. The way general manager Jim Rutherford figured it, his team has the parts necessary after a couple months of tinkering.

One of the things Rutherford and coach Mike Sullivan haven’t messed with is the top line. Considering the way Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist and Chris Kunitz are playing at the moment, that’s probably wise.

Hornqvist beat Arizona goalie Louis Domingue three times for his first career hat trick and the Penguins made quick work of the Coyotes 6-0 on Monday night. Kunitz added a goal and an assist, and Crosby had three assists as Pittsburgh began a busy week by sending the Coyotes to their sixth straight loss.

Kris Letang had a goal and an assist, and Matt Cullen also scored for the Penguins.

“I’ve been struggling to get that third goal,” said Hornqvist, who came in with 18 two-goal games. “I think I have almost 20 games with two goals. It’s nice to get the third one.”

He broke through — and sent hundreds of stuffed Penguins given away as a promotion raining onto the ice — when his power-play goal 11:06 into the second pushed Pittsburgh’s lead to 4-0. Hornqvist called the scene of the team’s ice crew shoveling the Penguins into trash cans “pretty funny.”

The reeling Coyotes would disagree after dropping their sixth straight overall and eighth in a row on the road. Arizona sent forward Mikkel Boedker to Colorado earlier on Monday, and losing their third-leading scorer seemed to leave the Coyotes deflated.

“It’s really difficult,” forward Shane Doan said. “It doesn’t really matter. We were horrendous.”

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots for his fifth shutout of the season and the 43rd of his career. The Penguins have won three of four to hold onto the eighth and final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference at the start of a stretch in which they’ll play five times in seven days.

“This is how we have to play to be that playoff-type team that will be tough to play against,” Sullivan said.

The victory provided a giddy end to a relatively quiet day. Pittsburgh’s only significant move before the 3 p.m. trade deadline consisted of sending Russian rookie forward Sergei Plotnikov to the Coyotes in the morning, ending the 25-year-old’s forgettable tenure with the Penguins.

Following a slow start he asked the team in December if he could return to the KHL in Russia. The Penguins declined, citing a roster freeze, and the request did not sit well with Sullivan, who made the power forward a healthy scratch for his final 20 games with Pittsburgh.