Petr Prucha was knocked off his skates in front of the net but still pushed the puck into the net while sitting on a Penguins player's back in the second period, and the Phoenix Coyotes took advantage of nine power plays to beat host Pittsburgh 3-0 on Wednesday night.
Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov made 24 saves, only a handful of them difficult, as the Penguins played a flat, error-filled and uninspired game before leaving on a difficult five-game road trip that begins today in Philadelphia.
Ed Jovanovski also scored on a power play for Phoenix, which is 2-0 with one game remaining on a season-opening road trip that began with a 6-3 victory at Los Angeles. Last season, the Coyotes managed only 30 points on the road, the fewest in the Western Conference, and won successive games away from home only twice.
Pittsburgh tried but failed to start a season 3-0 for the first time since 1995, giving little support to Brent Johnson. He made 22 saves in his first start for the Stanley Cup champions, and hardly could be blamed for one of the Penguins' worst efforts under coach Dan Bylsma.
Late Tuesday
Wild 4, Ducks 3 (OT): Andrew Brunette's power-play goal in overtime lifted the Wild to a win over the Ducks in Minnesota's home opener.
Trailing 3-0 with less than 14 minutes to play in the third, the Wild got goals from Mikko Koivu, Petr Sykora and Eric Belanger to send the game to overtime.
Flames 4, Canadiens 3: Staffan Kronwall's first NHL goal lifted the perfect Flames to a victory over the visiting Canadiens.
Kronwall's deciding goal was scored 2:16 into the third period when he fired a slap shot through a crowd and past goalie Jaroslav Halak.
Oilers 5, Stars 4 (SO): Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin picked up his 300th career victory, and the host Oilers won their first game of the season with a shootout win.
Ales Hemsky scored the shootout winner. Mike Comrie, Sam Gagner, Dustin Penner and Denis Grebeshkov scored in regulation for the Oilers.
Kings 6, Sharks 4: Teddy Purcell scored the tiebreaking goal from behind San Jose's goal line with 5:10 to play, and the host Kings blew a four-goal lead before holding off the Sharks.
Notes
Coyotes' Lessard to serve suspension: The Phoenix Coyotes recalled forward Francis Lessard from the minors Wednesday so he can begin serving his three-game NHL suspension for a preseason incident.
Lessard received a boarding major and game misconduct for his hit on Anaheim's Ryan Donally on Sept. 19. The NHL issued Lessard a suspension five days later for Phoenix's final two preseason games and three regular-season games.
League fines Leafs for tampering: The NHL fined the Toronto Maple Leafs an undisclosed amount after ruling that coach Ron Wilson was guilty of tampering when he expressed interest in Vancouver Canucks forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin before they reached free agency.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly announced the penalty Wednesday in a news release. Wilson made reference to the Canucks twins during an interview when they were still under contract with the Canucks. Both players reached new deals to stay with Vancouver.
