Dupuis scores dramatic OT goal for Penguins (AP)
By The Associated Press 10 minutes ago
The Pittsburgh Penguins won with a goal in the nick of time. Scored by none other than ... Pascal Dupuis?
OK, so not every big goal this season is going to come from Sidney Crosby. In fact, they haven't gotten any goals from him yet, and only one from co-star Evgeni Malkin.
Yet so far, the Penguins are doing just fine. Dupuis' shot with 10.8 seconds left in overtime — from 45 feet out, at a bad angle and on sketchy ice — gave them a 3-2 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
"That's what makes winning teams, everybody chipping in at different times," Dupuis said.
Pittsburgh also got goals from Brooks Orpik and faceoff specialist Mike Zigomanis to improve to 2-1-1. Philadelphia's Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne scored in the final minute of the second period to tie it.
In Tuesday night's other NHL games, it was San Jose 5, Columbus 2; Los Angeles 6, Anaheim 3; Minnesota 4, Atlanta 2; and Calgary 5, Colorado 4.
Dupuis' slap shot from along the edge of the left circle beat goalie Antero Niittymaki to the glove side. He took Brooks Orpik's pass, considered passing to a trailing Crosby, then let loose.
"I brought it back with my foot and it almost got stuck there on me (in the soft ice), but I closed my eyes and shot it and it went in," Dupuis said.
The high temperature in Pittsburgh was close to 80, which may have contributed to the deteriorating ice.
"His angle wasn't that good, and I pretty much thought it would go wide or hit me," said Niittymaki, who made 25 saves in his first start. "Maybe I was in little bit of a wrong place, the positioning wasn't perfect, but it was a pretty good shot."
The Flyers have dropped their first three games for the first time since the labor dispute-shortened 1995 season.
"That's not the place we want to be, that's not the start we want, but we saw some great stuff tonight," said Gagne, who has scored in all three games after missing 57 games with concussion-like problems last season. "It's not like we played bad three games in a row. But it's a rough league now, and those two points are hard to get."
Sharks 5, Blue Jackets 2
In San Jose, Calif., Patrick Marleau scored two goals, Evgeni Nabokov made 31 saves and the Sharks kept new coach Todd McLellan unbeaten through four games.
Jonathan Cheechoo had one of San Jose's two short-handed goals, and Milan Michalek had a power-play score while the Sharks overcame two early deficits. A three-goal flurry in the second period and two more quick scores in the third overwhelmed the Columbus defense and goalie Pascal Leclaire, who made 19 saves before getting yanked.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic also scored and Joe Thornton had two assists in San Jose's fourth straight win over the Blue Jackets, who finished a season-opening three-game road trip with two losses.
Kings 6, Ducks 3
In Los Angeles, Patrick O'Sullivan, Jarret Stoll and Tom Preissing scored on the power play, Wayne Simmonds got his first NHL goal, and the Los Angeles Kings rallied from a sluggish start.
The Kings are 1-2 under new coach Terry Murray, who replaced Marc Crawford after the Kings finished last season tied with Tampa Bay for the fewest points in the league. It was their first game since second-year defenseman Jack Johnson sustained a shoulder injury that is expected to sideline him through the All-Star break at least.
Brian Sutherby and Todd Marchant scored first-period goals for the Ducks, who are off to an 0-3 start after back-to-back 100-point seasons and a Stanley Cup title in 2007. Teemu Selanne also scored for the Ducks, his first of the season.
Wild 4, Thrashers 2
In Atlanta, Antti Miettinen scored two third-period goals and Marian Gaborik and Andrew Brunette also scored for Minnesota.
Ilya Kovalchuk, whose 255 career goals lead the NHL since his rookie season of 2001-02, scored his first goal of the season for Atlanta, which also got a goal from Bryan Little.
The Thrashers were outscored 3-1 in the third.
Flames 5, Avalanche 4
In Calgary, Alberta, Todd Bertuzzi scored twice and the Flames hung on for their first win.
Jarome Iginla scored short-handed at 7:23 of the third period. Dustin Boyd and Craig Conroy also scored for the notoriously slow-starting Flames (1-1-1), who are off to their fastest start since 2003-04.
Ben Guite, Cody McLeod, John-Michael Liles, and Ryan Smyth scored for Colorado (0-3-0).
Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper and his son, Ben, attended the morning skate on the day of national elections won by Harper's Conservative Party.